Sustainability: research working parties

The following are active research working parties overseen by the IFoA’s the Sustainability Research and Thought Leadership Sub-committee.

Volunteer for a working party

All members are encouraged to volunteer for a research working party. If you have your own ideas for member-led research you would like to pursue, please contact our Practice Communities Team below or refer to our Guidance for Research Working Parties (562 KB PDF).

Members interested in volunteering for a research working party should check our volunteer vacancies.

Research working parties

This working party will ask - in a well-diversified portfolio, can an asset manager invest in commodities and still meet ESG goals?

About

Chair: Pankaj Verma
Established: 2023

Biodiversity is being lost at an unprecedented rate (a mass extinction). The economic or financial impact of this loss is unknown. There is an increasing amount of work focusing on how business and government decision-making can account for biodiversity through concepts such as natural capital valuation. This is an important topic on which there has been little actuarial discussion. The Biodiversity & Natural Capital Risk Working Party will include (contested) concepts such as natural capital and valuation of ecosystem services. This is a crucial focus for the draft Environment Bill in the UK Government and so a significant increase in policy and regulation is expected to follow on from this Bill.

The Biodiversity working party has formed four subgroups to consider a range of Biodiversity issues including Zoonotic disease / Covid-19, natural capital, valuation metrics, and justice.

Planned outputs

  • An education of actuarial volunteers on natural capital valuation approaches and biodiversity
  • An informed input into DEFRA and/or UN consultation on the role of, or impact to, business from biodiversity changes

About

Chair: Aled Jones
Established: 2020

This group aims to develop an understanding of carbon pricing and its implications towards the journey to a net zero economy.

About

Chair: Hemel Naran
Established: 2023

This working party is examining how actuaries are currently using climate scenario modelling, identifying best practices, and where this doesn’t exist, to suggest appropriate approaches.


About

Chair: Peter Murphy
Established: 2023

Disclosure is an important part of any business or organisation. It helps stakeholders to understand and manage risks and opportunities, as well as give confidence internally and externally, allowing both the company and stakeholders to make informed decisions.

Climate change disclosures are filtering through to various reporting standards and local legislation, moving from voluntary to mandatory requirements. It is important that we as practitioners are not only able to comply with disclosure requirements but use this as a tool to understand risks to make informed decisions.

Planned outputs

  • Annual report which will provide a detailed overview of current, major climate reporting frameworks, standards, and requirements issued by global organisations and local governments
  • Quarterly update newsletters which will provide a snapshot of material updates by regulators, organisations, and governments from around the world
  • Blogs which will be published on an ad-hoc basis and go into detail on a particular climate disclosure-related topic

About

Chair: Debashish Dey, Lloyd Richards
Established: 2022

This group will examine the impact of mortality and morbidity of climate change perils.


About

Chair: Eric Ofosu-Hene
Established: 2023

The aim of the group is to provide important information and guidance on this issue which impacts a wide range of actuarial work.

About

Chair: Alex Darsley
Established: 2024

This group will develop/promote actuarial solutions related to the inequality of climate change for actuaries/broader stakeholders.

About

Chair: Tan Sze Won
Established: 2023

This working party will develop a framework for assessing sustainability related risks with limited measurements.

About

Chair: Raluca Gavron
Established: 2023

Overarching aim of the working party

  1. Educate: collate information to provide actuaries with resources to improve their understanding of what net zero means for an investment portfolio, and the key mechanisms to achieve this, as well as key challenges to date and the future outlook for development. This will enable more actuaries who work in investments to play a role in the transition of investment portfolios to net zero.
  2. Thought leadership: Produce research to develop the profession’s understanding of what net zero means for an investment portfolio, and how it can be executed. This will drive forward the net zero agenda and equip actuaries working in investment teams with the knowledge and understanding they need to drive the transition.

About

Chair: Ruth Bryson
Established: 2022

This working party is looking at how IFoA and the government interact with regard to sustainability issues.

About

Chair: Laura Llewellyn-Jones
Established: 2023

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