The Sustainability practice area is increasingly important to the IFoA, highlighting relevant issues for traditional actuarial work and giving opportunities for members of the profession to get involved in new areas. Issues around climate change, sustainability and resource constraints will be featured in this page which brings together articles written by our Members.

Articles and blogsWindmill

The Arc of Geopolitical Risk

Lawrence Habahbeh, Chair of the Sustainability MIG, discusses the differences between government instability and hard core geopolitical risk and the leading risk factors driving geopolitical instability.
 

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Climate Risk: A Practical Guide for Actuaries working in Defined Contribution Pensions by the Defined Contribution working group of the Resource and Environment Board

In May 2017, the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (‘IFoA’) issued a Risk Alert on Climate-Related Risks.

Following publication of the Risk Alert, the IFoA’s Resource and Environment (‘R&E’) Board is seeking to support members by producing a series of practical guides on climate risk for different practice areas to raise awareness of the topic, encourage discussion, catalyse further research and help actuaries to think about how to develop their advice. This guide has been produced to support actuaries advising UK defined contribution pension schemes (trust, contract and master trust).
 

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Avengers: Age of Actuaries – the Case for Natural Capital

Jonathan Cross introduces the concept of Natural Capital, making the case for how it can support sustainable economic growth and even explaining why it might resonate with Thanos.
 

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Issues for Pensions Actuaries: Supplementary Information on R&E Issues and their Implications for Sponsor Covenant Assessments

This is the first supporting report for “Resource and Environment Issues: A Practical Guide for Pensions Actuaries” . That Guide explains where resource and environment (R&E) issues are likely to be relevant to pension schemes and the work of pensions actuaries. This report expands on the aspects relating to covenant assessments, ie assessments of the financial strength of sponsoring employers of UK defined benefit pension schemes, and provides further background information on R&E issues, focusing on the aspects most relevant to covenant assessments.
 

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Originally published 13 September 2017
 

Kaya Identity

Jonathan Cross provides an introductory and educational piece on the Kaya identity, a tool which actuaries can use to understand and measure how CO2 emissions and their underlying drivers change.
 

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Nothing Without Energy

Carol Storey explains why a new IFoA working party will be looking at the role of energy in the economy and invites you to get involved.
 

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Decoupling economic growth from environmental impact and resource use?

The seminal report, “The Limits to Growth” published in 1972, although much criticised then and since, concluded that on a finite planet exponential economic growth cannot continue indefinitely. Its long term doomsday projections (it emphasised that they were not supposed to be predictions) have so far proved to be worryingly close to actuality. To the five factors the authors considered (population increase, agricultural production, resource depletion, industrial output and pollution) can now be added climate change, the loss of ecosystem services and new devastating forms of pollution such as plastic waste.
 

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Contact Details

For more information about the Sustainability Practice Area please contact the Professional Communities Team

professional.communities@actuaries.org.uk

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