Aviva embraces activism as it demands “urgent” climate action from government

Alex Sword

Editor

The Financial Services Forum

Aviva has called on the UK government to take greater action on climate change in a new report published today (21 July).

The Building Future Communities report sets out a series of demands to protect homes and businesses from extreme weather events over the next three decades.

While they are more  focuses on areas such as planning regulations, resilience in buildings for both home owners and businesses, and encourages research into the effectiveness and affordability of insurance.

This year has seen the financial services industry step up its commitments on the climate. For example, in April 43 banks including the likes of HSBC, Barclays and Natwest launched the net zero banking alliance. As well as committing to net zero emissions by 2050, the signatories will need to set specific goals for 2030 about the most greenhouse-gas intensive parts of their portfolios. 

At Aviva, we see first-hand the trauma that these weather events can have on our customers, not just in the immediate aftermath of an event, but the long-term effect on wellbeing and financial resilience.

Adam Winslow, CEO of Aviva UK & Ireland General Insurance

In March, Aviva set the goal of being a net zero emission company by 2040. It also set intermediate targets including net zero operations and supply chain by 2030 and 25% and 60% reductions in carbon intensity of assets by 2025 and 2030 respectively.

The new report, published as the UK goes through a major heatwave, will undoubtedly win attention for Aviva’s sustainability efforts.

It signifies that the brand is seeking to establish itself as a credible voice on the topic, with Aviva execs also speaking at sustainability events in recent weeks. At a time when accusations of “greenwashing” are rife, the company clearly believes it is important to go beyond targets and take on a wider advocacy role in society.

Aviva evidently believes that activism rings truest when it relates directly to a company’s own activities. The company is able to draw out examples such as the rising number of insurance claims due to weather events to support its case.

Adam Winslow, CEO of Aviva UK & Ireland General Insurance, said: “Severe floods and storms are an acute reminder of how extreme weather is already affecting people, homes and livelihoods, across the UK.  And it’s not just floods; subsidence and heat-related risks are likely to increase as temperatures rise, putting more homes and businesses under threat.  We can’t stop the changes that are already happening, but we can act – now – to help reduce their impact in the future.

“We can’t stop the changes that are already happening, but we can act – now – to help reduce their impact in the future.”

“At Aviva, we see first-hand the trauma that these weather events can have on our customers, not just in the immediate aftermath of an event, but the long-term effect on wellbeing and financial resilience.”

The report calls for:

  1. Greater use of innovative nature-based solutions that are adapted to the UK landscape – innovative, site-specific nature-based solutions that help to guard against multiple climate risks, for example, Aviva’s partnership with WWF to help improve flood resilience.
  2. Ensure small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are sufficiently protected against extreme weather – new commercial properties built today to be fit for purpose, and for the government to better support SMEs in preparing for climate events.
  3. Strengthen planning regulation to protect UK properties – strengthen planning and building regulation to prevent new properties from being built on floodplains, and to ensure that all existing and future properties have adequate resilience and safety measures in place.
  4. More collaboration and research across all stages of the building process to combine sustainability with safety – from design to build, ensure that all current and future materials have both sustainability and safety in mind.
  5. Improve access to home insurance and narrow the insurance gap to protect those most at risk – increased research into the affordability and availability of insurance, and targeted measures to close the insurance gap – particularly among renters – and protect those most threatened by climate change.
  6. Encourage and incentivise property resilience to aid recovery – greater understanding, insight and collaboration on effective campaigns and incentives that drive preventative action against extreme weather impacts. These should include government grants to help return businesses and households to a greener and more resilient state after extreme weather events.
  7. Collaboration across recovery organisations to strengthen crisis response and resilience at community level – increased collaboration and support for communities through a more streamlined, quicker and joined-up crisis response to climate events, using insights from Covid-19 and existing community-level partnerships.
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