UNIQA INSURANCE GROUP AG SEEDING THE FUTURE
2020 Non-Financial Report UNIQA Insurance Group AG
FOREWORD BY THE MANAGEMENT BOARD
Dear Readers,
A look back at 2020 shows us how both the expected and unexpected can drive change in our society. As diligently as we followed and prepared for demographic and social trends and calls for action on environmental issues in line with our world view, the Covid-19 crisis equally taught us lessons about the aspects of society we need to pull together to better organise and protect. We therefore decided to stand even more firmly shoulder to shoulder with like-minded people, became a member of three important organisations and, as part of our new sustainability strate- gy, announced the principles and standards according to which we will contribute to improving the environment and society. We also incorporated the principles of the UN Global Compact (UNGC) into our Code of Conduct. The Principles for Sustainable Insurance and the Principles for Responsible Investment will be addressed in our new UNIQA 3.0 strategy programme and worked into the subsequent packages of measures. In addition, we will provide information on the progress we have made in all of these areas by reporting transparently and participating in sustainability ratings. [GRI 102-16]
The following are the five cornerstones of our sustainability strategy:
1. Aligning the investment policy with ESG criteria
- Assessing environmental and social impacts on our assets on an ongoing basis
- Assessing the impact of companies and countries in which we have invested on the environment and living conditions for communities
- Establishing new databases to continually incorporate current assessments into our investment decisions
- Incorporating the indirect carbon emissions of our in- vestments into our management process
- Introducing a scientifically based target system to reduce carbon emissions in compliance with the Paris Agreement
- Our accession to the UNEP Finance Initiative and cooper- ation with all signatories to the Principles for Responsible Investment are key steps toward achieving this ambitious long-term goal.
2. Incorporating ESG factors into our product policy and creating additional value accordingly
As a seller of insurance policies and financial products, we share responsibility for personal living standards and the value-creation processes of our business. Risk prevention and mitigation are the core areas in which environmental and social impacts must increasingly be incorporated into the advising approach. Our product range must also be adapted accordingly.
We will provide other environmental investment opportunities in addition to the existing portfolio, especially more sustainable products (unit-linked insurance products) and even purely "green" products. Another goal is to gradually expand our range of health and property insurance products that meet environmental and social criteria to broadly promote sustainable lifestyles and sustainable corporate governance.
In doing so, we rely on supplementary product modules (e.g. e-mobility,low-emissions household/business man- agement) and improving the quality of advising on resource efficiency and reducing carbon emissions.
We consistently strive to implement our Statement of
Decarbonisation and will report regularly on our website on the progress we have made.
3. Managing our business in an exemplary manner in view of our environmental and social goals
We are committed to continually reducing our carbon footprint, which we are documenting more precisely and aligning more systematically with reduction targets developed in conformity with the targets stipulated by the Paris Agreement. This process involves applying international certifications and standards, both in our relationships with suppliers as well as in managing our own business.
Likewise we are continually greening our vehicle fleet and our travel policy.
We are pursuing specific carbon reduction targets in our largest core market of Austria in the following five areas during the period from 2021 to 2025:
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FOREWORD BY THE MANAGEMENT BOARD
- Installation of photovoltaic systems
- Greening of heating/cooling systems
- Optimisation of energy monitoring
- Switching lighting to LEDs
- Greening of the vehicle fleet
4. Transparent reporting and willingness to obtain
third-party ratings
The goals we pursue in our sustainability strategy should be measurable, comparable and aligned with recognised standards. In future we aim to report on our goals and the progress we have achieved in a timely and transparent manner beyond what is required by statutory disclosure regulations. We have already laid some of the groundwork for this ourselves, while also deriving guidelines from our support of and membership in various initiatives.
In addition to transparent reporting, we also pursue active dialogue with ESG rating agencies and strive to continually improve our ESG rating by adding reporting processes.
The journey is the destination and we are constantly learning!
5. Stakeholder management: recognising and collectively pursuing societal goals
Our management approach includes maintaining an on going dialogue with all of our stakeholders and their representatives in order to exchange information about our goals and positions on current issues in a timely manner. In doing so, we stand by our positions, even though there may not always be general consensus on the issues.
Apart from our customers and those representing their interests, we seek out regular dialogue with
-
public representatives (government ministries,
municipalities,regulators, NGOs, etc.), - our employees in employee ESG discussion groups and town hall events and
- our investors during investor meetings and events.
Our governance efforts are based on these perspectives. In future we will deal with relevant ESG-related stakeholder issues in a Stakeholder Council meeting once a year and in ESG Committee meetings quarterly.
We made significant progress in this regard in 2020:
- Issue of a green bond totalling €200 million according to the Green Bond Standard, which was awarded the Austrian Eco-label for Sustainable Financial Products
- Sustainability recertification of UNIQA Austria's portfolio in line with the Austrian Society for Environment and Technology's (ÖGUT) bronze level
- Further expansion of green investments to more than €500 million
- Initial CDP rating with a score of B-
- Improvement of the ISS ESG rating from D+ to C-
- Carbon emission reduction in our own Company
- Consistent monitoring of our Decarbonisation Policy
- Improvement of the Code of Conduct by incorporating the ten principles of the UN Global Compact
In the interest of continuing to fulfil our commitment to ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) principles and certain UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being, SDG 4: Quality Education and SDG 13: Climate Action, our aim is to include further SDGs in the coming years.
In addition to our investment and product strategies, we have also integrated ESG principles into our risk management system. This ensures timely and sufficient preparation for regulations as part of the sustainable financing action plan.
Furthermore, we want to increasingly create measurable value in non-financial aspects and therefore also gain trust, which we consider an indispensable foundation for our ambitious economic goals.
We are confident that we are sparing no effort to fulfil and live up to our mission as a leading service provider of providing people with a better life.
Sincerely,
Andreas Brandstetter
CEO UNIQA Insurance Group AG
On behalf of the entire Management Board
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CONTENTS
- Foreword by the Management Board
- About this report
- UNIQA at a glance
6 Sustainable governance
- Material topics and expectations of our stakeholders
- Reconciliation table between GRIs and SDGs
- Sustainability risks
- Human rights, corruption and compliance
- Data protection
- Investments
19 Customers
- Customers and market
- Complaint management
- Innovative products and services
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Property and casualty insurance
26 Employees
26 Employee satisfaction
- Diversity and equal opportunity
- Training and education
32 Employee KPIs
36 Society
36 Commitment to health and education
38 Environment and ecology
- Energy efficiency and reduction of emissions
- Environment and ecology KPIs
42 GRI Content Index
- Responsibility Statement
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Independent Assurance Report
53 Imprint
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UNIQA Insurance Group AG published this content on 08 April 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 08 April 2021 06:33:05 UTC.
