Lord Sharman of Redlynch OBE, chairman
Chairman's statement
Aviva’s purpose is to provide prosperity and peace of mind to our customers,
and sustainability, an issue of global significance to our stakeholders and to
our business internationally, is central to achieving that purpose.
It is essential that, if we are to secure the future success of Aviva, we manage not just our own direct impact on the environment and society, but influence sustainable behaviour among our customers, our suppliers and the companies in which we invest.
This is not just about corporate social responsibility (CSR); it is about making sound business sense. After all, if we are to offer our customers protection against some of the adverse consequences of climate change and environmental degradation, such as flooding, we want to reduce the risk of such events happening.
Our response to the widely reported threat from increased carbon emissions and rising temperatures is to become the first insurer to be ‘carbon neutral’ globally. We already had a number of successful schemes to reduce our carbon dioxide output.
Now we have six projects in hand to deliver the remaining carbon credits we need. They include ‘green’ cement production in The Netherlands and Ireland; a biogas project in Sri Lanka; more efficient wood-burning stoves in Africa; treadle pumps for irrigation in rural India; and wind turbines in India and China. I’m very pleased that we have identified projects that not only offset our carbon output but also promote local community benefits.
We played an active role in the launch of HRH The Prince of Wales’ Accounting for Sustainability project, in December 2007. The report includes an online ‘toolkit’ that helps to embed sustainable decision-making within corporations. We piloted a model ‘connected reporting’ framework to integrate sustainability reporting into a company’s annual report and accounts, and have included this for the first time in our annual report for 2007.
External measures of our success include a global award for our innovative approach to embedding diversity across the group from the World Diversity Leadership Council, under the auspices of the United Nations Global Compact. Our pioneering approach to climate change disclosure led to our being recognised as ‘Best in Class’ by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP5), a coalition of more than 300 global investors, in a report on how major corporations are addressing the challenges of climate change.
We were also awarded a bronze-class distinction in the Sustainability Yearbook 2008 compiled by Sustainable Asset Management, the world’s most comprehensive publication on corporate sustainability. Aviva was one of only two UK insurers awarded a class distinction in the insurance sector.
I am extremely proud of our successes in the field of CSR in the past year. I hope that all our shareholders, business partners, customers and employees will share that sense of pride, and support us as we look to build on those achievements in the future.
Lord Sharman of Redlynch OBE
chairman
