Implementing our corporate responsibility

For Munich Re, responsible and sustainable development is an integral part of its Group strategy. On the basis of our new corporate responsibility mission, which is the result of refining our previous guiding principles, we have further cemented our fields of action and objectives and at the same time formed the fundamental basis for our Group-wide activities.

Munich Re's new corporate responsibility mission highlights five fields of action. The areas "Strategy and governance" and "Reporting and communication" provide the framework for our three content pillars:

• Integrating corporate responsibility in our business
• Environmental management
• Corporate citizenship

Corporate responsibility – Fields of action

Zoom image

Close

Strategy and governance – Meeting our commitments

The ten principles of the Global Compact constitute an important framework for placing corporate responsibility at the heart of our business activities. By considering these principles in the areas of human rights, labour standards, environmental protection and anti-corruption, we demonstrate our commitment to such values both inside and outside the Group. We develop the impulses for our strategy and define the challenges we face by conducting an open and consistent dialogue with our stakeholders and analysing their expectations. In addition to including these aspects in our corporate responsibility strategy, we are also developing an efficient Group-wide network and governance for ESG topics.

Reporting and communication – Making progress

Through internal and external communication of our corporate responsibility activities, we inform our stakeholders of our strategic approach, the measures we have decided on, and the progress we have made. A central element of this communication is the reporting we do in our corporate responsibility portal. The exchange of information and offering of transparent data ensure that we can provide optimal information to our stakeholders and expand the dialogue with investors and rating agencies. Our aim is to continue being listed with a good rating in the most acknowledged international indices, such as the FTSE4Good and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

Solutions – Corporate responsibility in core business

By integrating corporate responsibility in its business, Munich Re is seeking a solution-oriented way to handle environmental, social and governance risks and to develop innovative solutions and products. We adhere to the new Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI), a global initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme for greater sustainability in the insurance industry, which we have co-developed since 2007. We also consider the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) for our investments, another agreement we helped to develop and which we were the first German company to sign. A sustained increase in value coupled with forward-looking and future-oriented actions are our number-one priority.

Environmental management system and carbon neutrality

Munich Re is aiming to achieve carbon neutrality. It is hoped that the reinsurance group will be carbon neutral by 2012 and the whole Group by 2015. This carbon neutrality will be achieved in two stages: firstly reducing our ecological footprint by cutting down on energy consumption, travel, use of paper, water and waste and secondly offsetting unavoidable emissions by purchasing emission allowances. We also contribute to environmental protection by developing innovative insurance solutions.

Social commitment – The corporate citizenship concept

For Munich Re, corporate responsibility means assuming responsibility for the community in which we live and work. In addition to systematically promoting education and science, Munich Re supports selected cultural and social projects at its business locations. The framework for this is provided by a new corporate citizenship concept, which links our social commitment more closely to business-relevant issues.

New objectives and the next steps

With this enhanced corporate responsibility strategy, Munich Re has not only created new structures but also defined specific objectives for the next three years. The following overview of these objectives in our fields of action underlines this point. We will let you know about the progress of these objectives in the next report.

Field of action 1: Strategy and governance

• Objective 2010: Produce a draft of a more clearly defined strategic corporate responsibility approach in the Group.
  
  Status: Clearer corporate responsibility concept and mission with three focal areas ratified by the Board of Management

• Objective 2011: Establish a Group-wide network and governance structure for corporate responsibility.

Field of action 2: Corporate responsibility in business

• Objective 2010: Develop innovative solutions in core business.
  
  Status: Innovative solutions are being offered, such as guarantee covers for photovoltaic products.

• Objective 2011: Develop a Group-wide concept for integrating corporate responsibility in business in accordance with the Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI) and formulate a clear policy against insuring manufacturers of banned weapons.

Field of action 3: Environmental management

• Objective 2010: Develop a carbon neutrality strategy.
  
  Status: Group-wide carbon neutrality strategy adopted by the Board of Management; Munich Re Munich carbon neutral since 2009.

• Objective 2011: Develop Group-wide environmental management with a plan of action and recertification of the Munich location and several ERGO locations in accordance with » ISO 14001.

Field of action 4: Corporate citizenship

• Objective 2010: Develop a new corporate citizenship concept.
  
  Status: Adoption of the concept by the Board of Management and roll-out of the corporate citizenship strategy for managing social commitment Group-wide.

• Objective 2011: Establish an international corporate citizenship network and develop a Group-wide corporate volunteering concept.

Field of action 5: Reporting and communication

• Objective 2010: Update the corporate responsibility portal by way of a short report in PDF format.
  
  Status: Corporate responsibility portal fully updated, including a detailed GRI reporting document.

• Objective 2011: Update the corporate responsibility portal in combination with an executive summary and expansion of the coverage of corporate responsibility reporting, as well as good ratings in the most important indices.