Indicators for the Financial Industry published by the Verein für Umweltmanagement in Banken, Sparkassen und Versicherungen e.V. (VfU) published in 1997 and 2011; ̤ The Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (Revised Edition) published in 2001 by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development; ̤ The framework document Environmental Performance Indicators Reporting at Swiss Re, version 1.1 from August 2014 including Annex; and
Inherent limitations The accuracy and completeness of CR indicators are subject to inherent limitations given their nature and methods for determining, calculating and estimating such data. In addition, the CO2 emissions quantification is subject to inherent uncertainty because of incomplete scientific knowledge used to determine emissions factors and the values needed to combine emissions of different gases. Our assurance report should therefore be read in connection with Swiss Re’s internal guidelines, definitions and procedures on the reporting of its CR performance.
A limited assurance engagement under ISAE 3000 (revised) is substantially less in scope than a reasonable assurance engagement in relation to both the risk assessment procedures, including an understanding of internal control, and the procedures performed in response to the assessed risks. Consequently, the nature, timing and extent of procedures for gathering sufficient appropriate evidence are deliberately limited relative to a reasonable assurance engagement and therefore less assurance is obtained with a limited assurance engagement than for a reasonable assurance engagement.
Clinton Global Initiative Established in 2005 by former US President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) convenes global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. www.clintonfoundation.org
Insurance Europe Insurance Europe is the European (re) insurance federation. Through its 34 member bodies, the national insurance associations, Insurance Europe represents all types of insurance and reinsurance undertakings, eg panEuropean companies, monoliners, mutuals and SMEs.
Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) The PRI is the world’s leading proponent of responsible investment. It works to understand the investment implications of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and to support its international network of investor signatories in integrating these factors into their investment and ownership decisions. www.unpri.org
Principles for Sustainable Insurance Launched at the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, the UNEP FI Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI) serve as a global framework for the insurance industry to address environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities. www.unepfi.org/psi/
Listed here is a selection of Swiss Re’s most important memberships, commitments, recent awards and index listings with regard to corporate responsibility.
Evironmental Finance: Deal of the Year for Weather Risk, 2016 Swiss Re Corporate Solutions again won this award from Environmental Finance magazine, this time for a wind hedge in Australia (see page 27).
TheJobCrowd: Top Companies for Graduates to Work for, 2016/2017 For the second time in a row, we were ranked as the “Top Accountancy & Insurance Company for Graduates to Work for” (larger intake category).
Environmental Finance: Deal of the Year for Weather Risk, 2015 Swiss Re Corporate Solutions won this award from Environmental Finance magazine for a solar energy hedge in China.
TheJobCrowd: Top Companies for Graduates to Work for, 2015/2016 We were recognised as the “Top Accountancy & Insurance Company for Graduates to Work for” (larger intake category) and came third overall.
Principle 1 We will embed in our decision-making ESG issues relevant to our insurance business.
We plan to achieve this by: a) developing innovative risk transfer solutions (eg index insurance products and cat bonds) and by working closely with partners both in the private and public sectors; b) using tailor-made tools in our risk management to address sustainability risks; c) integrating ESG criteria in our asset management.
Key actions taken in 2015: a) for business solutions, see achievements described on pages 18–27; b) for risk management, see achievements described on pages 28–38; c) for asset management, see achievements described on pages 38–41.
Key actions taken in 2015: See stakeholder dialogue achievements on pages 42–51.
Organisational profile G4-3 Name of the organisation 4 G4-4 Brands, products and services 4, 6 G4-5 Headquarter location 4 G4-6 Countries of operation 4, FR 192 G4-7 Nature of ownership 4, FR 86–91 G4-8 Markets served 4–7, FR 182–192 G4-9 Scale of the organisation 4–7, FR 164–170
Identified material aspects and boundaries G4-17 Scope of financial report FR 172, 267–269 G4-18 Content definition 14–16 G4-19 List of material aspects 11–13 G4-20 Internal boundaries of material issues 17 G4-21 External boundaries of material issues 17 G4-22 Restatements 16 G4-23 Changes in scope 16
Disclosure on management approach: Our management approach to the economic category is primarily disclosed in our 2016 Financial Report. Specific aspects (“implications of climate change” and “indirect economic impacts”) are disclosed in this report in the “Who we are and what we do”, “Creating solutions for sustainability” and “Exploring and shaping the risk landscape” chapters.
G4-LA4 Minimum notice periods 3 We always respect minimum notice periods and in some cases exceed them.
Photographs: Istockphoto (Cover & back cover) Geri Krischker (page 3) Marc Wetli (page 3)
Jorge Barrientos, MiCRO (page 23) David Ausserhofer/Swiss Re (page 49) Divney Tung Schwalbe (page 55) South Pole Group (page 57) Nooch Asian Kitchen for reCIRCLE (page 61) Silvia Imre/Swiss Re (page 63) Juergen Atzgerstorfer/Swiss Re (page 65) WORKPLACE PRIDE FOUNDATION – 2016 International Conference Amsterdam (page 66) Indigoplum (page 70) Swiss Re Foundation (page 79)