Environmental protection and social commitment
Hannover Re makes every effort to keep negative environmental impacts of its business operations as low as possible. With this in mind, we focus in particular on reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from our electricity consumption and the heating of our premises as well as those caused by business travel. Our goal is to operate on a climate-neutral basis at Hannover Home Office by the year 2015. In addition, we are committed to the economical and environmentally friendly use of (raw) materials such as paper and water in our offices. Major steps taken towards achieving this goal were the changeover to power generated from purely renewable sources, the installation of a photovoltaic system on the roof of our main office building in Hannover and the implementation of an environmental management system. Shortly after its launch in 2012 this was successfully certified according to DIN EN ISO 14001; its conformity was recertified in the context of the 2014 maintenance audit.
Hannover Re’s carbon dioxide emissions at its German location in 2014 amounted to 7,798 (previous year: 7,203) tonnes, some 8.3% more than in the previous year. This is equivalent to per capita CO2 emissions of 6.0 tonnes (+2.4% compared to the previous year).
In 2014, as in previous years, we compensated for our unavoidable CO2 emissions of 7,514 (6,859) tonnes caused by airline travel by making voluntary offsetting payments to the international organisation “atmosfair” and thereby supported selected climate protection projects in developing and emerging countries. No offsetting payments had to be made in the financial year just ended for emissions resulting from rail travel because Hannover Re participates in Deutsche Bahn’s corporate customer programme under which every kilometre of train travel within Germany is powered by 100% green energy.
In the financial year just ended, as in prior years, we reported on our climate strategy and our measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions as part of the international initiative overseen by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).
The table below breaks down Hannover Re’s consumption and emissions over the past five years.
| Resources consumed at Hannover Home Office | |||||
| 20143 | 20133 | 20123 | 20112 | 20101 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of staff | 1,289 | 1,219 | 1,164 | 1,110 | 1,089 |
| Electricity (in kWh) | 8,969,975 | 9,114,482 | 8,802,262 | 8,214,917 | 8,055,429 |
| Heat (in kWh) | 2,748,014 | 3,359,694 | 2,319,854 | 1,859,119 | 2,383,918 |
| Water (in l) | 15,176,000 | 15,778,000 | 14,961,000 | 14,464,500 | 14,722,000 |
| Paper (in sheets) | 7,551,200 | 8,502,060 | 8,766,000 | 9,172,180 | 9,074,300 |
| Waste (in kg) | 193,760 | 214,250 | 205,790 | 257,400 | 297,000 |
| Business trips (in km) | 20,447,867 | 18,185,062 | 16,654,504 | 17,658,598 | 16,018,500 |
| CO2 emissions 4 (in kg) | 7,798,000 | 7,203,000 | 4,984,000 | 8,123,000 | 7,685,000 |
| 1 Karl-Wiechert-Allee 50, Roderbruchstrasse 26 and infant daycare centre, Hannover 2 Karl-Wiechert-Allee 50, Roderbruchstrasse 21 and 26 as well as infant daycare centre, Hannover 3 Karl-Wiechert-Allee 50, Roderbruchstrasse 21 and 26 as well as infant daycare centre, Karl-Wiechert-Allee 57 (pro rata), Hannover 4 Radiative Forcing Index: 2.7 | |||||
Hannover Re’s commitment to society has a long tradition. The company has been active as a sponsor of culture and social projects since its founding in 1966. Today, we concentrate our non-profit activities on the areas of art and music as well as research and learning. We also support the voluntary social engagement of our members of staff. Our involvement encompasses not only projects in Germany but also activities at our international locations.
More detailed information on our social commitment can be found at www.hannover-re.com/sustainability/index.html.
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