Richard Harvey, Group Chief Executive
Foreword by group chief executive
Our approach to CSR has been simple. Centrally, we have set policy objectives and our businesses around the world have identified how best to achieve them. This 'organic', locally owned approach to our CSR programme is a key feature of its success to date. Each year, incrementally, we have moved forward. Learnings are exchanged between businesses and are carried forward from one year to the next. In this way, we can build on what is good and what works. We know we are on a journey and this report outlines the progress made in that journey over the past year and also seeks to anticipate the challenges of the future.
This focus on the future is key to Aviva's approach. We have defined our core purpose, our reason for being, as 'prosperity and peace of mind'. This is what we aim to deliver for any key stakeholders, most notably our customers, as we help them to prepare for a secure financial future. Across Aviva, we recognise the importance of listening and responding to our customers. Our focus on the future is a philosophy we express as Aviva: Forward thinking.
The Forward thinking approach embodies a key principle of CSR, which is to take action now to safeguard the future. For example, climate change is a major uncertainty for us all. While the role of science is to analyse and interpret the data, a responsible insurer can help society adapt to the changes and mitigate the risks. Norwich Union's demonstration house shows what steps people can take to limit the impact of flooding. This practical response to a challenge illustrates our approach to CSR. The test of CSR progress is to be found in the extent to which it is embedded in products and services.
Our subsidiary, Hibernian, is the first company in Ireland to use a new technology to automate the assessment of flood risk. This permits us to rate properties at an individual house level, mirroring the developments already pioneered by Norwich Union in the UK. This example illustrates the exchange of best practice between our businesses.
An example of connecting to local social priorities is given by our subsidiary in Lithuania. There, we have launched a product which enables local companies to offer enhanced employment benefits packages, which will help mitigate the major problem of loss of talented staff through emigration.
Our steady incremental progress is reflected in other ways. Aviva's global CO2 emissions have reduced over the past year by 7,848 tonnes or by some 11%. Further, local business engagement in CSR continues with Bia Galicia, one of our businesses in Spain, becoming the fifth group company to produce its own CSR report.
Our asset management companies in the UK and the Netherlands offer good examples of responsible investment through active corporate engagement and offering socially responsible investment funds.
Our commitment to help develop understanding, and shape the practice, of CSR globally is evidenced by our continuing commitment to the United Nations Global Compact. Aviva chairs the UK network and our businesses overseas are also active in local networks, where they believe that they can make a contribution.
Aviva is committed to CSR and I am convinced of the value it brings to our business and to all its stakeholders. It reinforces the products we offer to our customers, enhances the performance of our staff, promotes social benefits and delivers value to our shareholders.
Richard Harvey
Group Chief Executive
Richard Harvey,
Group Chief Executive
