How insurance companies can access harmonized data for ESG reporting

Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) is increasingly important to organizations the world over. And, as the biggest piece of ESG reporting legislation to date, the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is of significance to companies within, and outside of, the EU.

Since CSRD requires companies to collect large volumes of data, one of the biggest considerations for commercial motor insurance companies is: how to obtain data that is harmonized, regardless of source.

At Greater Than, we’re proud to offer a solution to motor insurers that takes the headache out of ESG reporting, including CSRD, by facilitating compliance through quality data.

CSRD – a recap

The EU’s CSRD is the most comprehensive ESG reporting regulation we’ve seen so far. It requires large companies and listed SMEs to publish reports on their environmental and social activities. And, while it’s an EU regulation, it also applies to international companies with significant operation within the EU.

Companies that fall under the scope of CSRD are required to include a distinct and comprehensive ESG reporting section within their management report. This must be done so in line with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), which fall under the areas of Environmental, Social and Governance.

How ESG reporting applies to insurance companies

ESG reporting is growing in importance across all industries, including insurance. The consequence is that many motor insurance companies will be required to include ESG disclosures in their annual reports. Some insurance companies will currently be complying with the CSRD’s predecessor, the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD), while others will now be in scope of the CSRD.

To make matters more complicated, non-EU insurance subsidiaries of EU groups might fall under reporting requirements at a group level. And, those with substantial activity – if they generate over EUR 150 million on the EU market – will fall under CSRD.

Of course, the ESG reporting landscape also continues to evolve in other parts of the world. For example, the SEC recently approved the first US climate disclosure rules. And just before that, Singapore announced new mandatory climate-related reporting requirements for listed and large non-listed companies. China’s three major stock markets, the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE), and Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE), also recently announced the publication of new sustainability reporting guidelines for listed companies.

What data is required under ESG reporting requirements?

ESG reporting requires organizations to quantify their impact on the planet. In terms of “environmental” this includes measuring their CO2 emissions across scopes 1, 2, and 3, in line with GHG Protocol.

To fulfil the “social” aspect of ESG reporting, organizations need to evaluate how their operations impact society. This includes measuring risk to the workforce, to those in the supply chain, and to end users.

It’s also useful for motor insurance companies to consider ESG reporting regulations from their customers’ perspectives. Their customers might be looking for solutions that help them to fulfil their own ESG reporting requirements, and insurance companies have extensive data at their fingertips to provide the solution.

The challenge of obtaining data from multiple sources

For commercial motor insurance companies one of the biggest challenges in obtaining ESG reporting data is that there are so many sources. While the collection of data might be easier for digital insurance companies with connected fleets, there are still likely to be multiple data sources.

Typically, a commercial motor insurance company’s customer base will include fleets of all sizes and vehicle types, potentially using a variety of different fleet management and telematics solutions. The question is how to harmonize this data for ESG reporting.

Harmonizing ESG reporting data: we make it easy

At Greater Than, our artificial intelligence (AI) technology converts driving data into crash probability and climate impact scores and intelligence. Thanks to the uniqueness of the scoring, our AI harmonizes GPS data from any source and is agnostic of location or vehicle type. This means we can take data from different telematics solutions, dashcams, connected cars, or any other form of driving data, and harmonize it across an entire portfolio.

This makes it easy to see where improvements can be made and where insurance companies can prioritize action to help their customers drive down negative social and environmental impact.

This information addresses the requirements of ESG reporting by enabling the insurance company to measure, act, and report on ESG factors. Even better, it enables motor insurance companies to offer their own ESG reporting solutions to customers and take a leading role in safety and sustainability management.

It’s easy to access harmonized data for ESG reporting

Whatever type of data your motor insurance company has, we can convert it into ESG-compliant mobility data. As an example, we can determine:

• Overall climate impact
• Emissions vs. world average, country average, company average
• Emissions avoided
• Overall crash probability
• Crash probability vs. world average, country average, company average

Such insights enable your commercial insurance customers to understand and assess their impact on the planet, and take action to improve it. All we need to get started is 1km of driving data, which can be shared with us via a smartphone app, SDK in an existing app or API from dashcam, connected car, telematics device, or other system.

Book a meeting to talk through your requirements for harmonized ESG reporting data.