ESG – acting today to make a better tomorrow
Adam Morghem, Premium Credit’s Strategy, Marketing & Communications Director and Chair of their Sustainability Committee reflects on recent developments in Environmental, Societal and Governance (ESG) best practice, how they touched BIBA 2022 and the difference effective ESG will make to the future.
After a 3-year absence it was great to be back at the annual BIBA conference earlier this year with so many partners and friends from the insurance industry – the perfect opportunity to meet, learn and grow. Sustainability, outlining how businesses impact society, the environment, their transparency and accountability, was finally a hot topic of discussion and evident across most exhibitor messaging.
Over the last few years pockets of the industry have debated ESG initiatives and it was great to see sustainability in the spotlight. At the conference, we all had opportunity to share best practices with one another and continue our learning, including hearing from speakers on subjects including the adoption of better ways of working- an example of ‘our insurance community’ in action, wanting to make change for good.
ESG examples
Like in any industry, ESG comes in many shapes and forms. Helping prevent climate change and reducing our carbon footprint is an important and obvious step relevant to everyone. Rapid action is needed. Manchester, the current home of BIBA’s annual conference, may be famed for its wet climate but July saw record temperatures in the UK with rainfall down 76%. Is anyone still in doubt that global warming is a very real threat to humanity? These are worrying trends and action is required now.
Improving sustainability, another important aspect of ESG, was evident throughout conference. One highlight for me was Allianz’s stand built from eco bricks made from recycled plastic. Images of their staff powering the exhibition space by riding a stationary bike was also inspiring. Zurich’s ‘living wall’ of reusable, oxygenating plants was another memorable feature. Cynics may dismiss as good marketing, but both these companies are extremely active with their ESG agendas with credible resources put behind their ambitions. Is there further to go? Sure, but that’s on all of us.
It was pleasing to see less plastic based giveaways at conference, which for years has been a default position to entice people into a conversation. We also saw a reduction of physical promotional materials with exhibitors, like ourselves, using technology to bring materials to the eyes of our current and future partners- all hail the rise of QR codes for brochureware and even business cards.
Working towards a better future
We are a purpose led business and fully committed to our sustainability journey, which is set out in our annual report. One stream of this agenda is working with industry partners, like BIBA, to meet industry standards. We are proud to have strong links to BIBA, as its accredited insurance premium finance provider for well over a decade and will continue to work closely with them in all areas, including ESG.
Our Sustainability Committee draws on senior leaders from right across our organisation, and our delivery is independently assessed each year by Ecovadis. In this short commentary I’ve barely scratched the surface of the work well underway, from addressing inequality and improving inclusion, to caring and protecting all our customers, to reducing strong governance reporting.
Premium Credit’s goal is to operate an ongoing and focussed sustainability agenda aligned to our Purpose and strategy. We want to create a robust understanding and visibility of our material issues and impacts, whilst ensuring we are a continuing force for good. Having talked to many of our partners, we are not alone in this approach which is fantastic news for the future prosperity of our industry and the lives we touch through it. It’s important for us all to do the right thing and take a responsible approach to business.
