Business Insurance Firm Allianz Commercial Names Chief Sustainability Officer: 3 Things to Know

Global business insurance provider Allianz Commercial has promoted Gabrielle Durisch to chief sustainability officer. Here are three things to know about Durisch's executive experience, and Allianz Commercial's business focus and sustainability strategy.

1. Business Focus, Scope and Scale: Allianz Commercial, part of Allianz Group, insures midsized businesses, large enterprises and specialist risks. The company, present in more than 200 countries and territories, generated around €18 billion (US$18.9 billion) in gross premium globally.

2. Sustainability Strategy: Alliance Commercial is striving to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in its proprietary investments and P&C insurance business by 2050. The company's intermediate goals for 2030 involve striving to reduce CO2 emissions by 30% absolute in the retail motor segment and 45% with regards to the GHG intensity in the commercial insurance segment. The overall Alliance Commercial sustainability strategy is here.

3. Chief Sustainability Officer: Gabrielle (‘Gabby’) Durisch shifts to chief sustainability officer on December 1, 2024, reporting to CEO Chris Townsend. She joined Allianz Commercial in April 2023 as global head of ESG & sustainability solutions. She previously was global head of sustainability at Zurich Insurance Group. Earlier, she held corporate tax, pricing, financial planning and M&A transaction roles at Deloitte, General Motors and KPMG. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Geology from the University of Edinburgh and is a UK qualified accountant with the ICAEW.

Chief Sustainability Officers: Why Technology Partners Should Care

By 2027, 25% of Global 2000 companies will have assigned a chief sustainability officer (CSO) responsible for meeting their organization’s ESG goals and making ESG-related IT purchasing decisions, according to IDC.

The bottom line: Technology partners need to extend their sales, marketing, engagement and support strategies to successfully fulfill those CSO customer needs, Sustainable Tech Partner believes.