Since 2007, Generali has been a participant in the UN Global Compact, a voluntary United Nations initiative that encourages businesses worldwide to create an economic, social and environmental framework aimed at promoting a healthy and sustainable world, giving everyone a chance to share in the benefits. To this end, as a participant in the initiative, the group – within its spheres of influence – is committed to sharing, supporting and applying a set of ten fundamental principles on human rights, labour standards, environmental protection and anti-corruption.
These are universally shared principles derived from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Declaration of the International Labour Organisation, the Rio Declaration and the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
Human Rights
Principle I
Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights within their respective spheres of influence; and
Principle II
make sure they are not complicit, even indirectly, in human rights abuses.
Labour
Principle III
Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
Principle IV
the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;
Principle V
the effective abolition of child labour; and
Principle VI
the elimination of all forms of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
Environment
Principle VII
Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;
Principle VIII
undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and
Principle IX
encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.
Anti-Corruption
Principle X
Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.
The Global Compact supports the creation of local networks to promote the initiative and its principles in specific countries or regions. In 2013, the Global Compact Network Italy, active since 2002, established itself as the Global Compact Network Foundation Italy, of which Generali is one of the founding members.
In December 2014, Generali signed the United Nations Environment Programme's Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI), a voluntary initiative, supported by the United Nations, aimed at addressing the risks and opportunities associated with environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.
Launched in 2012, the PSI are aligned with and complement the principles of the United Nations Global Compact, which promote the adoption in all industries of sustainable business practices; specifically regarding human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption.
In May 2011, the Generali group signed up to the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), a United Nations initiative created to support investors in the implementation of six principles, which commit them to incorporating social, environmental and governance aspects when evaluating investments. Signatories have access to a network that allows investors to share best practices, facilitates collaboration with other signatories and gives them the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities and workshops.
Following the COP21, at the end of 2015, Generali has joined the Paris Pledge for Action, an initiative that represents a unique opportunity for non-state actors to welcome the Paris Agreement on climate change and commit to implementing it.
The pledge demonstrates that non-state actors are ready to play their part to support the objectives of the Paris Agreement. By joining the pledge, businesses, cities, civil society groups, investors, regions, trade unions and other signatories promise to ensure that the ambition set out by the Paris Agreement is met or exceeded to limit global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius.
As member of the European Financial Services Round Table (EFR), we endorsed a statement in support of a strong and ambitious response to Climate Change, which was sent to European Governments, the European Commission and other public officials ahead of the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21). The statement expresses EFR members’ commitment, inter alia, to put more focus on understanding, managing and reducing carbon asset risks, to support customers in their transition to a low carbon future, and to examine how the financial sector can support progress towards the United Nations’ newly agreed Sustainable Development Goals, which have the potential to significantly mitigate the impact of climate change. The EFR brings together Chairmen and Chief Executives of leading European banks and insurance companies. The purpose of the EFR is to contribute to the European public policy debate on issues relating to financial services and to the financial stability with the completion of the single market in financial services. The EFR deals in particular with the global G20 agenda, regulation and supervision, consumer protection and climate change related matter and its impact on the financial sector.
In 2010, the Generali group also joined the CDP, an initiative supporting commitments to tackle the challenges of climate change and to limit its impact through eco-sustainable behaviour. The CDP is an independent, non-profit organisation with 590 participating institutional investors that manage 110 trillion dollars of assets. It provides investors that are sensitive to climate change with information on the environmental strategies and performance of companies in which they invest or plan to invest, collected through a comprehensive questionnaire updated annually.
The Generali Group became a signatory of the Climate Risk Statement of The Geneva Association in Kyoto in 2009 and in Toronto in 2014, assuming a series of shared commitments on the measures to be adopted to address and mitigate climate change. In 2015 the Group has reaffirmed such commitment in the run up to the United Nations Convention COP21. The Geneva Association is an international, non-profit organisation for the study of insurance economics, identifying and seeking to understand fundamental trends and strategic issues where insurance plays a substantial role or which influence the insurance industry, in order to disseminate its expertise on the subject. In line with all major groups in the industry, Generali participates at the highest level through the Group CEO.
Within the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) the Generali Group participated to the <IR> Pilot Programme (now ended) from 2012 to 2014 and since September 2014 it has been participating to the <IR> Business Network, where it co-chairs the <IR> Insurance Network. This latter is a network aiming at developing, sharing and spreading best practices for drawing up of an integrated report in the insurance sector. The Group continues to be committed to progressing with <IR> and presenting its Annual Integrated Report, that also meets the guiding principles and content elements envisaged by the International <IR> Framework.