Insurance Council of Australia supports Treasury climate framework

It also called for guidance to cover both decarbonisation and adaptation.

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has welcomed Treasury’s draft guidance on climate-related transition planning, saying it will help insurers manage climate risks and make more informed underwriting and investment decisions. 

The ICA stressed the need for international alignment with frameworks such as the IFRS Transition Plan Taskforce and ISSB to reduce duplication and improve access to global capital markets.

It also called for guidance to cover both decarbonisation and adaptation, noting that extreme weather has cost the industry A$22.5b over the past five years and more than A$34b since 2010.

The ICA urged Treasury to provide sector-specific guidance for insurers, clearer links with mandatory reporting standards under AASB S2, and more detail on embedding global regulatory settings and resilience measures.

Deputy CEO Kylie Macfarlane said the framework should balance ambition with flexibility to ensure disclosures remain credible and practical across industries.