Companies must lead by example
Intense work during 2022 in order to develop concrete science-based climate targets.
In October 2021, If committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). In 2022, three parallel projects further investigated our target-setting opportunities for investments, claims and our own operations.
– We all need to support the transition to a low-carbon society. Therefore, we committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which requires us to set ambitious and science-based targets. During 2022, we put a great deal of effort into developing our concrete targets, says Philip Thörn, Head of Sustainability If.
Claims
If, in collaboration with IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, has analysed large volumes of data, for example regarding material and energy use, in order to calculate CO2e emissions from motor and property claims.
– Determining type-claims is imperative in order to set climate targets. When we determine type-claims, we get a starting point to work from and we can see what potential for reduction exists in terms of the climate emissions of damage repair, says Jonas Fagerström, who is Nordic Sustainability Coordinator, Motor Claims.
– For motor claims, for example, the results relating to workshops, spare parts, paint and other aspects are analysed. The results fall into four categories: collision, theft, warranty and mechanical. With this type of analysed data, we can calculate the CO2e emissions for different types of damage and claims, explains Fagerström.
Investments
If has analysed the carbon footprint from our investment portfolio, together with different target-setting approaches. The analysis is extensive, and a lot of data from different sources, for example CO2e emissions data from individual companies, are needed in order to perform the calculations.
– A large proportion of our CO2e emissions come from our investments. The work has been time-consuming as there is a very large volume of data that must be produced for all our holdings. This has required us to use different financial data sources, and then compile them manually, says Linnea Joelsson, who is a Performance and Risk Analyst at If.
Own operations
We have also calculated the CO2e emissions linked to the company vehicles, offices, IT procurement and business travel in If’s offices in the Nordic and Baltic countries. This includes, for example, emissions from heating, cooling and electricity, the consumption of paper and waste generation. In addition, the use of our own vehicles, servers, computers, monitors and mobile phones has also been analysed.
– We are focusing on as many elements of our operations as possible. This is necessary for us to set concrete targets for reducing our CO2e emissions, says Jon Sindre Isaksen, who is Project Manager for Purchasing and Projects, Group Services at If.
– We will continue our work in 2023, and will develop and implement concrete actions. Examples of this include the launch of If’s updated environmental requirements for our offices, updating our business travel policy, and ensuring due diligence for our suppliers, says Isaksen.
The targets will be presented in 2023.