CDL cements ESG strategy after green insurtech launches on platform

CDL has reinforced its ESG strategy following a new insurtech called The Green Insurer having launched on its Strata platform last month (December 2023).

Nigel Phillips, chief executive of CDL, told Insurance Times: “CDL has long been committed to reducing its environmental footprint as part of its ESG strategy, seen in a range of local campus, transport and environmental initiatives.

“Our environmental framework earned CDL the internationally recognised standard ISO14001 and, most significantly, our migration to a cloud-only company last year has seen us move all IT services to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud, resulting in a huge gain in computing and energy efficiency as we retired one of our data centres and prepare to close another.”

Phillps noted that 90% of Amazon’s electricity derived from renewable sources in 2022, as well as its infrastructure being five times more energy efficient than an average European data centre.

“So, this was a crucial step in our journey to net zero, given that our prime environmental impact is due to the use of electricity to power the computer systems delivering our clients services,” he added.

Gap in the market

On 7 December 2023, CDL announced that The Green Insurer had joined its platform, following the new insurer’s launch on 6 December.

Phillips said that The Green Insurer had “spotted a gap in the market” and, in turn, created an innovative product that “aligns with both consumers’ and insurers’ growing concerns around sustainability”.

He continued: “We are seeing growing interest amongst the CDL customer base in developing insurance products that reward greener driving, both to meet demand from consumers for sustainable propositions and to support their own ESG strategies, positioning the environmental credentials of the insurance brands offering them.

“The increasing importance of sustainability to consumers is seen in part in the growth of the electric vehicle segment.”

The Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) recorded one million [electric vehicles] on the road in April 2023 and, last year, the Office for National Statistics reported that over half of young drivers are likely to switch to EVs in the next decade.”

Phillips added that he believed The Green Insurer was “particularly innovative” in harnessing telematics and mobile technology to deliver driver insights. This, he said, could also offset carbon emissions and other support other eco-friendly initiatives.