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Environmental and climate protection at Munich Re
The environmental impact of our activities is limited, since Munich Re does not have an energy- and resource-intensive business model. However, as a large organisation with more than 41,000 employees, we have responsibilities for environmental protection and have involved ourselves in areas that we can influence in practical and positive ways. In determining our goals and activities, we are focusing on reducing energy consumption and the associated carbon emissions, ensuring that business travel is as environmentally friendly as possible, and achieving a higher level of material and resource efficiency for our processes by generating less waste and using sustainable materials. In parallel with these activities, we are sensitising our staff to behaving in an environmentally compatible way.
Strategic management using the Environmental Management System
Munich Re (Group) has been coordinating activities at all sites since 2012 using a standardised, mandatory environmental management system (EMS) that meets the requirements of the international standard DIN ISO 14001. The EMS is based on the Group’s environmental guidelines and on selected key performance indicators (KPIs) that we use to assess our carbon footprint. It also defines the required processes and organisational responsibilities.
Our goals until 2020
We want to be measured against the implementation of our environmental and climate protection strategy, and orientate ourselves towards the following objectives formulated in 2015, which we want to achieve by 2020:
35%
A reduction in carbon emissions of 35% compared to the base year of 2009 (measured in kg of carbon emissions per employee)
Permanent carbon neutrality, taking into account compensation projects
Full conversion of electricity procurement to renewable energy sources Group-wide
An increase in the percentage of environmentally friendly consumables procured (e.g. paper, catering) and the procurement of environmentally friendly vehicles
Enhancement of employee motivation to behave in an environmentally friendly way
Regular certification of environmental and energy management systems at selected sites
Annual, Group-wide verification of environmental data
Our success
44%
CO₂ reduction per employee since 2009
We already achieved our carbon reduction target of 35% in 2017 (39% less carbon emissions). In 2018, a 44% carbon reduction was achieved.
86%
Green electricity Group-wide in 2018
In the year under review, we procured approx. 86% of our electricity requirements Group-wide from renewable energy sources.
103,000 t
CO₂ offseted for 2018
Since 2015, Munich Re (Group) has been committed to maintaining carbon neutrality in our business operations. We compensate unavoidable carbon emissions by purchasing carbon certificates. We follow strict requirements when selecting offsetting projects. For example, at least one of the project must meet the Gold Standard and be implemented in one of the world’s least developed countries. In addition to avoiding carbon emissions, we also place a special emphasis on maintaining social standards. We primarily support projects that promote health, facilitate education, develop local infrastructure, avoid deforestation and maintain biodiversity. To achieve carbon neutrality for the 2018 financial year, we obtained carbon certificates from the following projects:
Sensitizing our employees for resource efficiency at our sites
We would like to give our employees an understanding of environmental and climate protection issues, and are counting on engaging in direct communication and providing on-site information to do so. A perfect example is the building-services tours given by ERGO, where employees are given unusual insights into the inner workings of building equipment systems and key modernisation projects. In Hamburg, participants were given a tour of the building services and control centre, which houses nine impressive large air-conditioning systems. In Düsseldorf, employees were able to visit the cogeneration plants.
ERGO headquarter Düsseldorf
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Corporate Responsibility Report
In our Corporate Responsibility (CR) Report, we describe the ways in which we embrace corporate responsibility in our day-to-day operations.
