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Insurance sector digs into impact of mandatory climate reporting

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17 Nov, 2024

This post was originally published on Sustainability Matters

Businesses are being encouraged to prepare for the impact of mandatory climate disclosure in Australia.

Earlier this year, the federal government passed amendments to the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth), resulting in mandatory climate reporting for larger businesses in Australia.

The issue was examined during a recent address to members of the Underwriting Agencies Council, with particular attention paid to how the new legislation will affect the insurance sector.

Speaking at the event, Prateek Vijayvergia, Xceedance Business Leader – Key Accounts, Australia and New Zealand, said that while 75% of ASX 200 companies were committed to or already performing climate reporting, the number fell to 10.5% for broader ASX companies.

“There’s a lot more awareness and commitment and urgency that we see in the Australian market now and this is not limited only to the insurance business, but for all larger Australian businesses,” he said.

“Although this is all good, there is a gap in climate-related reporting among ASX-listed entities, and the depth and the quantification.”

Joining Vijayvergia in the discussion was Sharanjit Paddam, Principal – Climate Analytics at Finity Consulting, who said that from 31 December 2025, in addition to an Annual Report, large companies will need to submit a Sustainability Report — what Paddam referred to as “the home for ESG disclosures”.

Four pillars underpin the disclosure standards — governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets. Paddam emphasised that the devil is in the detail.

“You not only have to disclose the financial impacts on your balance sheet today and your income statement today, but also in the short-, medium- and long-term future,” he said.

“They (ASIC and APRA) want hard numbers to be put in the accounts about how climate change is financially going to affect the operations of the company.”

Paddam explained: “At the heart of the disclosure is really what are the financial impacts of climate change on your company, investors, customers and shareholders; to understand that and to allocate capital and make investment decisions informed by how climate change might affect your business.”

Paddam added that companies need to consider their own impact on climate change.

“The world is changing in disclosures in a very big way over the next few years, and companies are going to have to think about not just accounting for their financial outcomes, but also their climate outcomes,” he said.

“These are mandatory standards — this is locked in, and it will be required to happen over the next few years, and it is intended that these standards will change the economy and they will drive changes throughout the way we do business.”

A particular challenge will be the reporting of Scope 3 emissions — those indirectly generated by the activities of an organisation — due to lack of data, methodology and resources.

“What’s really helping all of us is the advancement in technology so there are better ways of collecting information and data around emissions,” Vijayvergia said.

“And also, to then slice and dice that information so it can be used to make a plan around climate risk.

“It’s becoming more comprehensive and almost integral to the overall reporting that’s happening for an organisation.”

Organisations impacted by these legislative changes include those that produce accounts under the Corporations Act and meet any two of the following criteria: consolidated assets more than $25m; consolidated revenue more than $50m; or 100 or more employees.

Paddam said the new requirements would capture some of the larger underwriting agencies and brokers.

“It’s an opportunity to look at the services that you are providing and how good a partner you are for your insurance provider, or as a distributor of insurance products, to see where you could uplift your services in this respect,” he advised.

“The things we insure, the things we invest in, are all intended to change as a result of these disclosures, and getting your heads around that quicker and faster than your competition is very important.”

Image credit: iStock.com/pcess609

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Taking the electronic pulse of the circular economy

Taking the electronic pulse of the circular economy

31 Jul, 2025

In June, I had the privilege of attending the 2025 E-Waste World, Battery Recycling, Metal Recycling, and ITAD & Circular Electronics Conference & Expo events in Frankfurt, Germany.

Speaking in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track on a panel with global Circular Economy leaders from Foxway Group, ERI and HP, we explored the evolving role of IT asset disposition (ITAD) and opportunities in the circular electronics economy.

The event’s focus on advancing circular economy goals and reducing environmental impact delivered a series of insights and learnings. From this assembly of international expertise across 75+ countries, here are some points from the presentations that stood out for me:

1. Environmental impact of the digital economy

Digitalisation has a heavy material footprint in the production phase, and lifecycle thinking needs to guide every product decision. Consider that 81% of the energy a laptop uses in its lifetime is consumed during manufacture (1 tonne in manufacture is equal to 10,000 tonnes of CO2) and laptops are typically refreshed or replaced by companies every 3–4 years.

From 2018 to 2023, the average number of devices and connections per capita in the world increased by 50% (2.4 to 3.6). In North America (8.2 to 13.4) and Western Europe (5.6 to 9.4), this almost doubled. In 1960, only 10 periodic table elements were used to make phones. In 1990, 27 elements were used and now over 60 elements are used to build the smartphones that we have become so reliant on.

A key challenge is that low-carbon and digital technologies largely compete for the same minerals. Material resource extraction could increase 60% between 2020 and 2060, while demand for lithium, cobalt and graphite is expected to rise by 500% until 2050.

High growth in ICT demand and Internet requires more attention to the environmental footprint of the digital economy. Energy consumption of data centres is expected to more than double by 2026. The electronics industry accounts for over 4% of global GHG — and digitalisation-related waste is growing, with skewed impacts on developing countries.

E-waste is rising five times faster than recycling — 1 tonne of e-waste has a carbon footprint of 2 tonnes. Today’s solution? ‘Bury it or burn it.’ In terms of spent emissions, waste and the costs associated with end-of-life liabilities, PCBAs (printed circuit board assembly) cost us enormously — they generally achieve 3–5% recyclability (75% of CO2 in PCBAs is from components).

2. Regulating circularity in electronics

There is good momentum across jurisdictions in right-to-repair, design and labelling regulations; recycling targets; and voluntary frameworks on circularity and eco-design.

The EU is at the forefront. EU legislation is lifting the ICT aftermarket, providing new opportunities for IT asset disposition (ITAD) businesses. To get a sense, the global market for electronics recycling is estimated to grow from $37 billion to $108 billion (2022–2030). The value of refurbished electronics is estimated to increase from $85.9 billion to $262.2 billion (2022–2032). Strikingly, 40% of companies do not have a formal ITAD strategy in place.

Significantly, the EU is rethinking its Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) management targets, aligned with upcoming circularity and WEEE legislation, as part of efforts to foster the circular economy. A more robust and realistic circularity-driven approach to setting collection targets would better reflect various factors including long lifespans of electronic products and market fluctuations.

Australia and New Zealand lag the EU’s comprehensive e-waste mandated frameworks. The lack of a systematic approach results in environmental degradation and missed positioning opportunities for businesses in the circular economy. While Australia’s Senate inquiry into waste reduction and recycling recommended legislating a full circular economy framework — including for imported and local product design, financial incentives and regulatory enforcement, New Zealand remains the only OECD country without a national scheme to manage e-waste.

3. Extending product lifecycles

Along with data security and digital tools, reuse was a key theme in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track of the conference. The sustainable tech company that I lead, Greenbox, recognises that reuse is the simplest circular strategy. Devices that are still functional undergo refurbishment and are reintroduced into the market, reducing new production need and conserving valuable resources.

Conference presenters highlighted how repair over replacement is being legislated as a right in jurisdictions around the world. Resources are saved, costs are lowered, product life is extended, and people and organisations are empowered to support a greener future. It was pointed out that just 43% of countries have recycling policies, 17% of global waste is formally recycled, and less than 1% of global e-waste is formally repaired and reused.

Right to repair is a rising wave in the circular economy, and legislation is one way that civil society is pushing back on programmed obsolescence. Its global momentum continues at different speeds for different product categories — from the recent EU mandates to multiple US state bills (and some laws) through to repair and reuse steps in India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The European Commission’s Joint Research Commission has done a scoping study to identify product groups under the Ecodesign framework that would be most relevant for implementing an EU-wide product reparability scoring system.

Attending this event with the entire electronic waste recycling supply chain — from peers and partners to suppliers and customers — underscored the importance of sharing best practices to address the environmental challenges that increased hardware proliferation and complex related issues are having on the world.

Ross Thompson is Group CEO of sustainability, data management and technology asset lifecycle management market leader Greenbox. With facilities in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, Greenbox Group provides customers all over the world a carbon-neutral supply chain for IT equipment to reduce their carbon footprint by actively managing their environmental, social and governance obligations.

Image credit: iStock.com/Mustafa Ovec

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