Building for a better tomorrow.
Our approach to environmental sustainability is governed by our environmental and sustainability policies. We recognise that responsible management of the environment and use of scarce natural resources is key to the sustainability and wellness of our business, clients, employees and communities. We have adopted a precautionary approach to environmental management and comply with all applicable environmental legislation and regulations.
We have a responsibility to reduce our impact on the environment and to encourage our employees to reduce their impact on the environment too. We also have a responsibility as an investor to apply responsible investment practices across our savings and investment products. We are a signatory to the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investing (UNPRI) and members of several international and South African codes and bodies.
Our responsible investment team has a proactive approach to environmental issues with the aim of managing and mitigating events before they escalate. They engage with the management of listed companies in which they are invested throughout the year to raise and resolve any concerns they may have with regard to environmental matters. Momentum Metropolitan was the first South African company to sign the Just Transition Global Investor Statement, which commits us to ensuring that as we transition to a low carbon economy there is also a just transition for workers and communities. In July 2021, we also became a formal supporter of the Taskforce on Climate Related Disclosure (TCFD) and published our first report in 2021.
Responsibility for environmental management lies with the Social, Ethics and Transformation Committee of the board (SETC). Quarterly reports are submitted to the SETC. Climate risk related issues are overseen by the Board Risk and Compliance Committee; and SETC report to the board which is responsible for the end-to-end process of risk management and for the assessment of its effectiveness. No environmental-related fines were received in the period under review.
In support of the South African Government’s Integrated Resource Plan and commitment to reducing carbon emissions, we have cumulatively invested over R2.3 billion from our shareholder portfolio in renewable energy projects, both onshore wind and solar photovoltaic. This will not only reduce South Africa’s carbon emissions, it will generate sufficient electricity to power around 700 000 households. We are equity investors in Umoya energy wind farm power, which is the first renewable energy independent power producer to receive environmental authorisation in South Africa.
As leaders in the insurance industry we are committed to doing our part to implement best practices and new technologies to reduce our environmental footprint. For more detail on our commitment, refer to our climate change positioning statement and our climate change investment policy. Environmental responsibility is a concern that we are addressing as part of our sustainability efforts. We are making concerted efforts to enhance our sustainability efforts so that we can make our contribution to lower the risks posed by global climate change. We have invested in new technology and equipment in order to enhance our progress in reducing emissions, fuel consumption, water and energy usage and other metrics by which we measure our improvements.
Climate change risks and opportunities are integrated into the multi-disciplinary company-wide risk management processes. We include climate change risks and opportunities in the Momentum Metropolitan CDP submission. The following risk areas are assessed and included in the CDP submission.
Momentum Metropolitan Holdings participates in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) process every year. CDP is the global disclosure system where we disclose our carbon emissions, risks, and opportunities we face in terms of climate change, as well as provide details and trend data relating to our carbon footprint. For full details, please see the publicly available Momentum Metropolitan Holdings submission on the CDP website. Momentum Metropolitan achieved a B rating in the 2021 CDP results for environmental impact management.
Click here to find out more about Momentum Metropolitan’s CDP submission
Although classified by the JSE as having an overall low environmental impact, the group’s largest contributor to Momentum Metropolitan’s carbon footprint is electricity. The group had committed to a 12% usage reduction in carbon emissions by 2020. Momentum Metropolitan Holdings’ baseline year is the financial period from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014. Momentum Metropolitan achieved this target during the period 1 January to 31 December 2017 and set a new target of a 25% reduction by 2030. We achieved a 26% reduction in 2020 and a 27% reduction from the 2014 baseline in 2021. We acknowledge the impact of COVID-19 in this achievement and will set a new target in 2023 when we expect employee office occupancy to stabilise. Our carbon footprint is verified by an external carbon emissions verification agency every year. In 2018, we changed our carbon footprint reporting period from the financial year July to June to align with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment reporting period.
Click here to view our latest verification statement
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