AIA NZ unveils sustainability report

New Zealand’s largest life insurer AIA NZ has released its sustainability report for 2022, outlining the impacts it made the year prior and its commitments in the future.

In its Sustaining Healthier, Longer, Better Lives report, the insurer outlined all its ESG highlights of the past year, including:

• Achieving Toitū carbonreduce certification, confirming the insurer’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) have been measured to the ISO 14064-1:2018 global standard
• AIA’s One Billion initiative engaged New Zealanders over eight million times last year, inspiring them to improve their physical and mental wellbeing
• Outsourced funds management of unit-linked policies to Smartshares (subsidiary of NZX), progressing the development of a range of Diversified Fund strategies and focusing on the transition to best practice ESG solutions
• Introduced seven waste streams to AIA House including paper, aluminium, glass, hard and soft plastics and organics, diverting approximately 10 tonnes of waste from landfill in 2022
• 2022 Gallup employee engagement survey score of 4.30 (out of 5), with 63% of the AIA NZ team considered ‘engaged’ employees
• Establishment of AIA NZ board ESG committee with an executive lead for each strategic pillar, chaired by an independent director

AIA NZ CEO Nick Stanhope said that the company’s commitment and progress towards a wider sustainability vision was great to see.

“We’re incredibly proud to have made such solid progress on our ESG journey and are pleased to be sharing our story. However, we recognise there is still significant work to be done to achieve our ambitious goals,” Stanhope said. “ESG is fundamental to delivering on our purpose of helping New Zealanders live healthier, longer, better lives. We know from our recently launched Environment and our Health report that the environment can have a significant impact on our health.

“So, AIA NZ is demonstrating our commitment to improving the environment and the health of our communities through our ESG goals. We want to play a direct role in helping Aotearoa New Zealand become one of the healthiest and best protected nations in the world.”

The insurer’s initiatives into wellbeing have continued steadily through today. Just recently, AIA NZ announced a second edition of its independent research project that aims to better understand the mental health and wellbeing of financial advisers in New Zealand.

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