Aviva 2006 Annual Report Download - page 70

Aviva plc
Annual Report and Accounts 2006 66
Employees and responsibility continued
Business review continued
Environment
Weare committed to a programme of management,
continuous improvement and reporting of our direct and indirect
environmental impacts.
As a forward thinking insurer we are making provision for the
effects of climate change through adapting and creating new
products and services to meet this challenge. We will work with
others to understand better the implications of climate change
and play our part in helping to develop and deliver society’s
continuing response.
We are managing and reducing, where possible, our own CO2
output and encourage others to do the same, using our influence
as an investor and purchaser. In 2006, our total CO2emissions
increased largely due to the inclusion of emissions data, for the first
time, from the RAC and AutoWindscreen fleets and buildings, and
our Asian businesses. From our existing businesses, emissions have
shown a slight increase, reflecting more business travel related to
operational requirements and the upgrading of our managed
property portfolio in respect of air-conditioning. We will continue to
focus on reducing our energy use and look to source zeroemission
power where we can. We will offset our remaining emissions on a
retrospective basis starting with emissions generated in 2006. We
will compensate for the carbon output of our consumption of non-
renewable sourced electricity and gas from buildings and business
travel, including air,car and train, across all of our global operations.
We are also looking at ways in which to help our customers reduce
their own CO2emissions through the provision of innovative
products such as “ Pay As You Drive™”and by offering reduced
premium insurance for drivers of hybrid and flexi-fuel Ford cars.
Our general insurance operations have been seeking solutions
to limit the effects of climate change on customers through its
flood mapping and lobbying on the issue of flood defences and
floodplain planning.
Suppliers
We regard our suppliers as our partners and work with them to
help us achieve our policy aspirations in the delivery of our products
and services.
In 2006, we revised our group purchasing policy. We include CSR
in our supplier tendering process and in some of our businesses,
require suppliers to sign up to a code of conduct.
iFirst insurer to go
carbon neutral worldwide
Aviva is committed to becoming the first insurer to
carbon neutralise its operations on a worldwide basis.
This is an important further step in our efforts to limit
our environmental impact, following our progress w ith
energy efficiency and use of zero emission electricity.
For example, 55% of electricity used by Aviva globally is
obtained from zero emission sources.
Weshall offset the remaining emissions – about
125,000 tonnes a year group-wide – on a retrospective
basis, starting with 2006. We will achieve this by
compensating for carbon output from our use of
non-renewable sourced electricity and gas in buildings
and business travel by investing in projects that
generate carbon credits. The credits will come from
carbon mitigation methods, such as tree planting,
and renewable energy generation projects that do
not release carbon to the atmosphere, such as solar
or wind power.
Our decision to go carbon neutral is a significant step.
Webelieve climate change to be the most important
environmental issue facing the world. As a forward
thinking company, we are playing our part in
addressing this challenge and would encourage
other businesses to follow suit.
UFor more information on our CSR programmes visit
www.aviva.com/csr
CO
2
emissions
2004 2005 2006
CO
2
(tonnes)
140,000
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
0
Existing businesses
Newly reported businesses
Community investment
1
1 Cash and gifts in kind
2 Staff time
3 Management time
2
3