To help accelerate a transition to a net-zero emissions economy, eight of the world’s leading insurance and reinsurance companies on Sunday launched the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA).

The companies, which include Europe’s top three insurers by premiums – Allianz, Axa and Generali – said the NZIA would work to shift underwriting portfolios towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The move comes as insurers come under rising pressure to spell out how they plan to decarbonize their businesses amid growing calls for them to halt underwriting and investing in fossil fuel projects.

Each of the companies will individually set intermediate targets every five years and report on progress annually in co-operation with competition authorities, the NZIA members said in a statement.

“With this new Net-Zero Insurance Alliance, we are raising our climate ambition further,” said Thomas Buberl, chief executive of the AXA Group, which chairs the NZIA.

NZIA members, which also include Aviva, Munich Re, SCOR, Swiss Re, and Zurich Insurance Group, will set underwriting criteria for the most carbon-intensive activities in their underwriting portfolios and offer solutions for low-emission and zero-emission technologies.