Andrew Moss, group chief executive

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an extremely important issue for Aviva. As a member of Aviva’s Board CSR Committee, I take a keen personal interest in the progress our initiatives are making around the group. I am determined that CSR issues will always be on the Aviva agenda and become ever-more embedded in the organisation.

One of the ways we will achieve Aviva’s purpose is by realising the ‘One Aviva, twice the value’ vision I announced in October 2007. That vision is about maximising the value of our existing businesses by working better together. This will benefit all Aviva stakeholders.

In delivering ‘One Aviva, twice the value’, Aviva benefits from having a clearly articulated CSR strategy. Our CSR strategy ensures that we act responsibly over the long term in how we do business. For us, CSR involves the responsible management of our relationships with customers, employees, suppliers and shareholders. It also means managing the impact Aviva has upon society and the environment. Adherence to strong CSR principles is an essential part of Aviva’s long-term success.

We want our customers to trust Aviva. We aim to offer our customers a range of sustainable products and services that meet real needs. For example, Aviva India provides micro-finance services to help the underprivileged, covering over one million lives. And in France, our new home insurance product now includes an option for insuring against the failing or breakage of renewable energy devices such as solar and photovoltaic panels, and offers reduced premiums for having energy-efficient electrics and boilers, and using renewable fuels.

We are also committed to being a good corporate citizen wherever we operate. Aviva’s financial commitment to community initiatives and charitable causes worldwide during 2007 was £6.75 million. Aviva continues to support the Oxfam 365 Alliance, funding Oxfam’s emergency relief work, providing for a rapid response team of aid workers and emergency supplies. We have also opened the first of four ‘Aviva Akanksha’ schools in Pune, India, for the education of underprivileged children.

We judge our success with our CSR agenda not just through our sales and profits, but also through the people who come to work at Aviva. Many of the talented people we attract want to work for a company that is both good for their careers and responsible in how it behaves. We solicit feedback every year through our global climate survey direct from our employees on how far we are meeting their expectations on CSR. More than 40,000 of our staff responded to that survey in 2007. I am pleased to say they told us that they saw visible progress in Aviva’s delivery against its CSR commitments.

As a large investor, we are very conscious of the need to consider carefully the question of ethical investment. The UK Companies Act 2006 has made directors responsible to a much wider group of people than shareholders for the way in which their companies behave. Our investment arm, Morley Fund Management, has an excellent track record in socially responsible investment and engages with companies in which it invests to help improve their performance.

One of the biggest concerns facing our industry is climate change. I participated in the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) Climate Change Task Force. We issued a report in November 2007 which set out how business, consumers and government must share the responsibility for meeting targets for reducing carbon dioxide pollution.

A major step for us was to become carbon neutral. But simply offsetting our carbon emissions is not good enough – we must also drive down our own carbon footprint. I am pleased that our business units are committed to energy reductions and we achieved a 10.8% carbon reduction in our existing businesses in 2007. Further reduction targets have been set for 2008. In our desire for transparency on this issue, we signed up to the ClimateWise principles created by a group of leading insurance companies and organisations committed to taking action on climate change and to reporting publicly on their own performance.

The need for responsible behaviour by commercial organisations has never been greater. I am pleased by Aviva’s performance to date, and thank our employees who are making CSR part of their daily lives. We recognise that we have more to do as a company, and look forward to reporting on further progress next year.

Andrew Moss
group chief executive