The annual meeting of 2019 China responsible Investment week and the Seventh China responsible Investment Forum was held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Beijing from December 2 to 6, and the main forum will be held on December 3.
On the morning of December 2, one of the series of activities, "Investor participation and Climate Action 100 +" meeting was held. Head of ESG of Ping an GroupGeng YichenGive a speech.
The following is a transcript of the speech:
Good afternoon, everyone. I then went on to share with you the development of ESG in China from another perspective from my colleague Moody's Corporation. After all, Moody's Corporation is a very professional institution, talking about a lot of places we can learn, as well as the tools and databases we can use next. From another point of view, we Ping an is not only an investor, but also an insurance company and, of course, a listed company. In fact, our ultimate goal is how to integrate the specific practices and theories of ESG, which have been experienced for a long time abroad, with China's national conditions, and match our national strategy, such as people's yearning for a better life, we solve social problems, and enable China's economy to grow in a more stable form, including solving various social and environmental issues such as China's poverty alleviation. Form a comprehensive scheme of ESG for Chinese enterprises.
The topic I share today is how ESG drives Ping An Insurance's sustainable development.
First of all, share our roles, positioning, and driving forces. I have just mentioned that Ping an has two purposes in doing ESG. The first is what other people think of us. We are a listed company. It is our purpose to improve the rating of ESG and the value of the capital market, because this is our very important identity. Second, how do we see others? The more appropriate topic we are all talking about today is how we seek the benefits of ESG adjusting risk. The focus of our work today is to sort out Ping an's PAESG model, that is, how Ping an can build ESG into a benchmark and template for China. This is our work this year. In next year's work, we will continue to explore with all of you here how to localize ESG's investment and make it bring more social and environmental benefits to China.
Here are the four driving forces for us to do ESG. First, it is highly consistent with Ping an's long-term development strategy. After all, we are an insurance company. Whether it is our concept of insurance or the investment concept of our insurance funds, we have to seek stability. So it itself is very consistent with our long-term development strategy. Second, balance the demands of multiple stakeholders. Third, respond to this high level of concern in the capital markets. Fourth, we believe that ESG is an important tool for financial enterprises to empower social progress. We should use the leverage effect of financial enterprises to pry the positive factors, whether national or social, as well as the environment.
This is what we did in 2019, and some results have been achieved, but we will not stand still. Our goal is to be an international leader, we are only in the lead at home, we will continue to cheer, and we want all of you here to help us make progress together.
How does Ping an do sustainable development? How does our ESG drive our sustainable development?
I elaborate on it through three dimensions. Because as a comprehensive financial institution rooted in China, we have integrated China's social and environmental characteristics, first of all from an economic point of view, because we have always insisted that comprehensive financial means is the most powerful driving force to support social and economic development, and that using the concept of responsible investment to achieve sound corporate and economic growth is our ultimate goal. On the environmental side, we will drive environmentally friendly business through the leverage of capital and insurance products. Of course, because we also have a decade of technological transformation, we also want to use our scientific and technological capabilities to accelerate environmental governance and build an environmentally friendly business environment. Of course, the last level of society is even more extensive. We will closely rely on the five major ecology of peace, especially in the areas of health care, education, smart cities, poverty alleviation and other areas to realize people's yearning for a better life and social stability, and respond to our country's initiatives and strategies.
Next, I would like to talk about what we have done specifically from the economic, environmental and social dimensions.
Financially. We signed the UNPRI in August this year, which was an important turning point for us. After signing, we carried out a series of combing, no matter in the product side or in the organizational structure, strategic management, as well as the staffing of the entire different investment lines, investment methodology, as well as information statistics and target design. These data are sorted out during the interim report. We can make responsible investment from three aspects: the first is ESG, the second is a professional credit company, providing relevant loan support, and finally we are an insurance company. We will have a very diverse product system in climate, society and Pratt & Whitney. If you are interested, you can continue to pay attention to our annual report and sustainable development report. More details have been disclosed.
The environment. I just mentioned that we hope to use the leverage of capital and insurance business, as well as our technological endowment to pry into environmentally friendly businesses, such as our investment in Xiaobai Maimai Inc. Here are some examples, but not all of us. For example, I also talked about the TCFD report this morning. I think it is more efficient. After joining in March, we can launch our complete TCFD report covering insurance, investment and banking in November. You can read it on our website. In terms of science and technology, we have smart environmental protection modules under the smart city, as well as our property insurance system, which can help our customers track climate carriers and prevent and control early warning in real time. The third piece is insurance, for example, environmental liability insurance, but at the insurance end to solve climate problems, there will probably be four major categories, and there are dozens of different small products under the four categories, which are not specifically shown. Of course, there are other sectors, such as real estate, green buildings, of course, we have also made a commitment, from this year on, all our own office buildings will be made into green buildings, this is our commitment.
This page shows the social point of view. When General Secretary Xi Jinping and Premier Xi Jinping proposed SDG this year, we made a calibration. We also want to show some specific actions and achievements of Ping an in terms of social impact through a very effective framework. There are also specific disclosures on our website.
I have just talked about three work contents. What supports us to do such an effective work? To tell you the truth, we did make a transformation, which began at the beginning of this year. Next, I would like to share our experience. The first is that we have a very scientific management framework, which helps us to achieve such implementation. The second is a comprehensive and grounded policy system. The second support is the AI enabling ESG platform, which is divided into two phases, the first phase is to help us carry out ESG performance management, and the second phase is to enable our investors to carry out investment, credit and risk control. In fact, the first phase of our goal is to build a model benchmark for Chinese listed companies to carry out ESG, and the second is that we hope that ESG investment can achieve the first comprehensive application of integrated financial institutions in Ping An Insurance. This is our goal.
Next, TCFD Climate change risk Management, our report will be out soon, you can take a look at the report.
Respond to today's topic. How do we make our responsible investment. At present, the whole process of the group is divided into four steps, the first is to improve our awareness, that is, from top to bottom, from bottom to top to carry out implementation and guidance. The second is the strategy, which will make some statements and commitments, including the matching of our organizational structure and the depth of responsible investment. The third step and policies and tools, clearly list your responsibilities, what supplies and models you need, of course, AI ESG is also one of our tools. The last point is specific practice, that is, specific integration and positive communication. For example, CA 100 + is a win-win channel for us to do together with you, and of course, there are regular reports, after all, after joining PRI, we should abide by the proposal of PRI to us and disclose some specific progress in responsible investment in a timely, effective and fair manner.
Our specific strategy is also the seven strategies of international unity, which have been further refined in Ping an according to these seven strategies. For example, the exclusion method, we are now conditional exclusion of coal, thermal power, tobacco, alcohol and other industries. Inclusion in the law means all industries. Positive screening, influence investment, etc., will not be discussed in detail. These are the frameworks under TCFD that talk about the insurance side, the investment side, and how our credit deals with climate change risks. This page will be disclosed in our TCFD report.
We, as an integrated financial group, CA100+, we are here, and we are willing to work with our counterparts in China to implement this responsible investment strategy. Because we feel that this is the most effective thing, we must first take the lead and have a benchmark to do everything, no matter whether it is the investor or the invested enterprise, do it first before the wind can catch up. Thank you.
(the content is sorted out according to the on-site recording, which has not been checked by the speakers)