Emerging risks specialist Steel City Re, based in Pittsburgh, has launched a new insurance product centred around environmental, social and governance (ESG) activities to provide protection to boards of directors.

The product is designed to help manage pre-emptive reputational risks facing corporate boards that are under pressure to publicly commit to ESG objectives.

Specifically, the new policy covers “strategic managerial and governance actions signalling corporate values” that may arise in an ESG crisis, where an organisation may openly set targets without the necessary operational or governance processes in place to meet them.

Described as a “value-enhancing package of services”, ESG Insurance provides parametric reputation insurances and risk management advisory serviced, using an index of reputational value, the RVM Index.

Steel City Re addresses emerging risks and ESG compliance through reputational insurance products, as well as captive solutions.

It said that recent litigation has demonstrated that both investors and regulators are authorised to consider such ESG statements as material, causing corporate boards to be targeted by both courts of law and public opinion.

Nir Kossovsky, CEO of Steel City Re, commented: “The race to set ever higher ESG goals has made accomplishing those goals more challenging, and the risk of (often very public) failure more serious.”

“In many cases, ESG has become central to companies’ reputations and the adequacy of board oversight will put board members in the crosshairs when regulatory, investor, rating agency and media scrutiny are brought to bear.”

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