Insurer joins UN climate Neutral Now campaign
Aviva PLC, the United Kingdom’s largest insurer and a global provider of life and general insurance, has become the first insurance company to join the UN’s Climate Neutral Now campaign reaffirming their commitment to maintain their zero-carbon operational stance. The company has worked closely with climate and development experts ClimateCare to deliver a multi-faceted carbon offset programme which is designed to deliver outcomes beyond carbon off-setting.
“The need for action on climate change has never been greater and we are delighted to see Aviva joining organisations including Microsoft, adidas and Sony that are not only taking action to tackle climate change themselves, but who champion the need for action and encourage others to do the same,” said Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
On the release of Aviva’s 2016 Annual Report & Accounts which integrates the company’s risks, opportunities and progress on climate change, Kirsty Cooper – Aviva’s Group General Counsel and General Executive sponsor of Aviva’s responsible and sustainable business approach commented “As an organisation whose business and customers are already being directly impacted by climate change, we see the need for all businesses to take urgent action to reduce and offset their carbon impacts. We hope that by joining a UN level international campaign we will encourage other organisations to understand the vital importance of measuring, reducing and offsetting carbon emissions to help tackle climate change now.”
The company has also been measuring its operational carbon for nearly two decades and seeking ways to reduce impacts through focused property management, use of energy efficient technologies, and the purchase (and more recently generation) of renewable electricity.
“We see this work as part of our role to be a ‘good ancestor’. It is also aligns with our business imperative to reduce risk and ensure our long-term business viability,” explained Aviva’s Head of Sustainability, Zelda Bentham. “In concert with our offsetting strategy, Aviva has also worked hard over the last 6 years to reduce our core carbon emissions and is proud to announce it has achieved a 46% reduction in its global emissions compared with its 2010 baseline”.
In 2006, Aviva became the first global insurance group to offset its entire operational emissions, so this month as it announces its 2016 annual sustainability results, the company celebrates 10 years as a carbon neutral organisation. The company works closely with ClimateCare to invest in a carbon offset programme designed to both reduce carbon emissions and measurably improve lives – tackling poverty, improving health and stimulating employment.
“In 2014 ClimateCare and Aviva applied the LBG framework to Aviva’s carbon offset programme, enabling us to measure the positive impact the programme had on people’s lives” comments Edward Hanrahan, CEO of ClimateCare. “This best practice approach creates a blue print for other organisations to follow”.
