Taking a stand on sustainability at BIBA 2024

Aviva has been a recognised leader on sustainability issues for decades. It’s a fundamental part of our strategy and integral to what we do as a business. From acting on climate change, building stronger communities, and embedding good governance across our business and supply chain, we set ourselves big ambitions. We know that what we do today, decides what’s possible tomorrow.  

Aviva has made an ambition to be Net Zero across our operations and supply chain by 2030, along with our underwriting and investment activity by 2040. We've set Science-Based Targets aligned to a 1.5-degree pathway for our operations, supply chain and investments, and our climate goals will be delivered with an overall £100m investment into UK and Ireland nature-based solutions by 2030, contributing towards the tackling the challenges on biodiversity and nature.

From the ways we work with our partners and communities, to the ways we show up at events like the BIBA conference, we’re mindful of our impact, and taking positive steps to be responsible and sustainable, so this year at BIBA it’s not just our recycled cups on the stand that have a story to tell - come and talk to our team on stand C20 to find out more.

Sustainable Partnerships

We're working with the world’s leading global environmental charity WWF as their lead partner in the insurance and pensions sector. We've made a commitment to donate £100m to UK and Ireland Nature based solutions, already partnering with The Wildlife Trust contributing a £38m donation to help restore Britain’s lost rainforests, and a £10m investment over 5 years to support woodland creation and peatland restoration projects in partnership with Woodland Trust. The funding aims to deliver carbon removal, boost air quality and improve biodiversity through woodland creation and peat restoration. Woodland management and creation also play an important role in mitigating the worst effects of extreme weather events, such as floods and wildfires, which can devastate people’s homes and livelihoods. We're proud to play our role to re-establish temperate rainforests in the UK, helping the UK become the world’s most climate-ready large economy.

It’s through our partnership that we’re proud to welcome the Woodland Trust to the BIBA Conference 2024 for their first BIBA event. Stop by their stand G87 to speak to the team and find out how you and your business can get involved.


So how do we measure our impact?

We’re using carbon reporting tool Event Decision to assess the impact that our BIBA stand and attending this event has on the environment. By understanding the impact of our stand fabrication, transportation and people attending the BIBA event we can look to reduce our impact year on year.

The Aviva team hosting our stand at BIBA this year play an important role in our BIBA sustainability mission. The likes of travel, accommodation and hospitality will be considered, making sustainable choices on travel to reduce our footprint. We measure our total transportation and travel distance so we can calculate this as part of our overall group travel emissions.


Getting closer to Net Zero by 2040

Our sustainable choices at BIBA 2024 lead the way for others to follow. We hope that brokers, businesses, and others in the insurance industry join us in our approach and start to make those small changes that contribute to our net zero future.1

Want to know more about how we’re operating sustainably for our people, our shareholders and for society? Download the Aviva sustainability report for 2023 here.

Join our Fringe session on Sustainability at BIBA


‘Supporting brokers (and their clients) on sustainability’

Thursday 16 May, 12:00 – 12:40pm


This year’s Fringe sessions will be set in the bustling and vibrant exhibition hall. We’re co-hosting this session to talk about the importance of sustainability for businesses and the tools on offer to support you and your clients on this journey. Join the session to hear from Simon Burkitt, Sustainability Lead, Aviva UK General Insurance, alongside experts from Weightmans and Flotilla. Find out more here.

“We’re excited to take part in this Fringe session at this year’s BIBA Conference. Our industry has a unique role to play in ensuring the transition to a low-carbon future, and we’re here to support brokers with their sustainability journey. In particular, we’ll be sharing how our recently launched Sustainable Business Coach can help with making brokers’ businesses fit for the future from an environmental, social and governance point of view. Sustainability is a fundamental part of our strategy and by working together with our broker partners we hope to make an even bigger impact. We look forward to meeting brokers at this year’s event to share more.” Simon Burckitt, Sustainability Lead.

Broker sustainability support

 

Our sustainability hub on Aviva Broker brings together helpful guidance and information to support brokers in becoming sustainable and climate resilient, as well as more information on Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) and how our products are evolving to tackle the ever-changing customer demand.

Launched last year, our Sustainable Business Coach tool can help with making your business fit for the future. Get a demo of the tool on our BIBA stand or follow the button below to find out more.

Our BIBA stand – Lifecycle thinking

From flooring to furniture and graphic finishes, there’s a lot that goes into our stand at BIBA each year. Each component serves a different need, and together these pieces come together to give our Brokers and colleagues the best possible experience each year. Working with our stand design and build partners, Image Experiential, we’ve created a sustainably focused stand that provides a great experience for brokers and our team at the event.

We’ve highlighted some examples below, but a lifecycle thinking mindset has been applied to our exhibition stand, from design through to build. For example, by using and reusing strong, durable materials like aluminium frameworks and hardwood floor structures, our stand has extended the life of materials which require higher energy to procure, manufacture and transport. With some being reused for decades, the lifecycle of these materials has been extended significantly, and better yet, less durable and less appropriate materials haven't been used time after time to reach the same result. That’s lifecycle thinking in action, and it’s helping us take a real stand on sustainability.

 

Flooring

Stand structure

Floristry and planting

Stand graphics & decor

Find out more about how we’re taking a stand on sustainability, including our support to you and your clients by talking to the team at BIBA 2024 on 15-16 May in Manchester. 
 


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Whilst we are working towards our sustainability ambitions, we acknowledge that we have relationships with businesses and existing assets that may be associated with significant emissions. More information can be found here.