Sustainability Report 2015
Environment and Society
Reflecting our holistic approach to sustainability, we also take responsibility for issues relating to the environment and society that are less relevant to our company as an international reinsurer. On the basis of sustainability criteria, therefore, we integrated concrete measures for environmental conservation, social engagement and the selection of our suppliers into our Sustainability Strategy 2015-2017.
Hannover Re's environmental management system was successfully recertified in the year under review in accordance with the international standard DIN EN ISO 14001. We are planning to change over to environmental assessment according to the more extensive EMAS requirements – including an appropriate validation – for the current 2016 financial year.
In the year under review we continued to pursue steps to cut our energy consumption, which we were thus able to further reduce year-on-year. We achieved the goal defined in our Sustainability Strategy 2015-2017 of operating the Hannover location on a CO2-neutral basis by the end of 2015 to a level of 97%. The 3% still to be offset results mainly from the use of district heating and to a modest extent from paper consumption. This was made possible by, among other things, a switch to renewable energy sources in 2012 and the offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions caused by air travel. We regularly monitor the use of resources – primarily water and paper – at the Hannover location and we are consistently cutting back on our consumption. We manage waste according to the types and quantities produced. We actively support the work of local and international initiatives on environmental protection.
When it comes to procurement, Hannover Re pays close attention to compliance with environmental and social standards on the part of its suppliers. We require all new and existing core suppliers to sign our Code of Conduct for Suppliers. Based on self-reporting, we also evaluate them according to sustainability criteria.
As an international reinsurer, Hannover Re is also aware of its responsibility to society. Thus, for example, we support universities as well as educational and research projects with a bearing on reinsurance business. For many years we have also lent our support to art, culture and music in Hannover. We encourage our employees to get involved in numerous projects around the world and we back international projects within the framework of our Donations Guideline.