Aviva plc - Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2008...corporate social responsibility (CSR)...

Aviva plcCorporate Social Responsibility Report 2008

This is a summary report. The full report is available atwww.aviva.com/csr08

One Aviva. One world.

Passionate about making a difference

Welcome to the Aviva 2008corporate social responsibility(CSR) summary report.Aviva’s CSR programme encompasses our businessethics and values, our customers, our people andsuppliers, our community relations and the environment.This report outlines the progress we made and thechallenges we faced in 2007, and our ambitions for 2008.

2007 highlights

• Customer initiatives, including the ‘Make Sense of It’ and ‘Six-Steps’

websites, continue to help customers make better-informed financial

decisions, while our ‘Pay As You Drive’TM insurance reduced accidents

among younger drivers.

• We were awarded the Global Diversity and Innovation Award by

the World Diversity Leadership Council, under the auspices of the United

Nations Global Compact.

• Our Global Employee Climate Survey revealed that 70% of ouremployees think Aviva is a great place to work.

• We became the first insurance company to be carbon neutralacross our worldwide operations. Existing businesses reduced carbonemissions by 10.8%.

• Investments in community and charity projects totalled £6.75 million.

• We were the only UK-listed insurer to be included in both the Dow JonesSustainability World and STOXX Indexes. We continue to be included

in the FTSE4Good Index Series.

• We were awarded a bronze-class distinction by SAM (Sustainable

Asset Management) and included in The Sustainability Yearbook 2008.

• We received ‘Best in Class’ recognition by the Carbon Disclosure Project

(CDP5) for our approach to climate change disclosure.

One Aviva. One world.

Read our full CSR report online at

www.aviva.com/csr08

One Aviva, twice the valueBusiness overview

Aviva is the world’s fifth-largest insurance group and the largestinsurance services provider in the UK. We are one of theleading providers of life and pension products in Europeand are actively growing our long-term savings businessesin Asia Pacific and the USA.

Our main activities are long-term savings, fund managementand general insurance. We have premium income andinvestment sales of £49.2 billion and £364 billion offunds under management.

We have 57,000 employees serving around 45 million customers.

UK

Aviva Group Centre

The Aviva Group is headquarteredin London.

Main operations

Employees: 33,686(includes Aviva Global Services in India

and Sri Lanka, part of Norwich Union)

More information:www.aviva.com

Norwich Union

The business operates in life and generalinsurance, and motoring services throughRAC, supported by operations in Indiaand Sri Lanka.

Main operations

Total sales: £20,302m

More information:www.norwichunion.com

Morley Fund Management

Morley is one of the UK’s largest active fundmanagers. To capitalise on its existing globalpresence it was announced that Morleywould become Aviva Investors in 2008.

Main operations

Operating profit*: £1,330m

More information:www.morleyfm.com

Read our UK case study onpage 12 of this report

Read our Morley case study onpage 10 of this report

Read about our business onpages 2 and 3 of this report

* European Embedded Value (EEV) operating profit

Our key strategic objectives are to:

• manage our composite portfolio

of businesses, including life

insurance, general insurance

and asset management

• bring together our asset management

functions into one global business

• allocate capital rigorously to provide

sustainable returns

• increase our reach to customers around

the globe, providing products and

services at a fair price

• raise our productivity to boost our

competitiveness, improve service and

deliver sustainable growth.

EuropeBelgium | Czech Republic | France | Germany |Hungary | Ireland | Italy | Lithuania |Luxembourg | Netherlands | Poland | Romania |Russia | Spain | Turkey

In Europe, Aviva businesses operatein life and general insurance, andasset management.

Main operations

Employees: 16,059Total sales: £19,719mOperating profit*: £1,971m

More information:www.aviva.com/files/reports/2007ar/index.asp

North AmericaCanada | USA

Aviva USA operates in life insurance andAviva Canada in general insurance.

Main operations

Employees: 4,717Total sales: £5,014mOperating profit*: £408m


Asia PacificAustralia | China | Hong Kong | India |Malaysia | Singapore | Sri Lanka | Taiwan

Businesses in Asia Pacific, at differentstages of development, operate in lifeinsurance, savings and fund management.

Main operations

Employees: 2,052Total sales: £4,117mOperating profit*: £97m


Read our Europe case study onpage 20 of this report

Read our North America casestudy on page 26 of this report

Read our Asia case study onpage 16 of this report


Contents

1

KeyThroughout this report, this iconindicates where further informationis available online.

One global strategy.

A strong emphasis on business ethicsand values, external engagements andbenchmarking strengthens our strategyand informs our goals for 2008.

www.aviva.com/csr08/strategy

page 02 Chairman’s statementpage 03 Group chief executive’s statementpage 04 CSR strategy and governancepage 06 Business ethics and valuespage 08 Key performance indicatorspage 10 External benchmarkingpage 11 External engagements

45 million customers.

We aim to provide our customers withprosperity and peace of mind by offeringthem relevant, simple-to-understandproducts that they can trust.

www.aviva.com/csr08/customers

page 12 Peace of mind for our customerspage 13 Responsible sellingpage 13 Socially responsible productspage 14 Socially responsible investmentspage 14 Improving financial literacypage 15 Satisfied customerspage 15 Looking ahead

One world.

Amid mounting evidence that climatechange is due to greenhouse gasemissions, managing our impact onthe environment is a central part ofour CSR programme.

www.aviva.com/csr08/environment

page 16 Offsetting our carbon emissionspage 17 The climate change challengepage 17 Reducing our carbon footprintpage 18 Resource-efficient buildingspage 18 Cutting travel emissionspage 18 Waste management and recyclingpage 19 Reducing our paper usepage 19 Getting everyone involvedpage 19 Looking ahead

57,000 people.

We involve our people in creating agreat place to work and a companyof which they can be proud. We alsovalue, respect and celebrate differences,helping us to compete effectively asa global business.

www.aviva.com/csr08/people

page 20 Embedding diversitypage 21 Diversity, equality and human rightspage 21 Talking talentpage 22 Leading peoplepage 22 Global Employee Climate Surveypage 22 Experiencing Avivapage 23 Managing changepage 23 Health and safety at workpage 23 Looking ahead

Diverse suppliers.

We are clear and consistent with oursuppliers about what we expect ofthem and what they can expect of us.

www.aviva.com/csr08/suppliers

page 24 Working closely with supplierspage 25 CSR in supply managementpage 25 Responsible purchasingpage 25 Supporting our supplierspage 25 Looking ahead

Communities in 27 countries.

We are a responsible corporate citizenand take account of the impacts ouractivities have on the communitieswhere we operate.

www.aviva.com/csr08/communities

page 26 Going further for local communitiespage 27 Investing in our communitiespage 27 Employee volunteeringpage 27 National education projectspage 28 Giving young people a better startpage 28 Health and social welfarepage 28 External recognitionpage 28 Looking ahead

Independent assurance statement

page 29 Independent assurance statement

One Aviva.

Aviva plcCorporate Social Responsibility Report 2008Chairman’s statement

2

This is not just about corporate socialresponsibility (CSR); it is about makingsound business sense. After all, if we areto offer our customers protection againstsome of the adverse consequences ofclimate change and environmentaldegradation, such as flooding, we want toreduce the risk of such events happening.

Our response to the widely reported threatfrom increased carbon emissions and risingtemperatures is to become the first insurerto be carbon neutral globally. We alreadyhad a number of successful schemes toreduce our carbon dioxide output. Nowwe have six projects in hand to deliver theremaining carbon credits we need. Theyinclude ‘green’ cement production in TheNetherlands and Ireland; a biogas projectin Sri Lanka; more efficient wood-burningstoves in Africa; treadle pumps forirrigation in rural India; and wind turbinesin India and China. I’m very pleased thatwe have identified projects that not onlyoffset our carbon output but also promotelocal community benefits.

We played an active role in the launch ofHRH The Prince of Wales’ Accounting forSustainability project, in December 2007.The report includes an online ‘toolkit’that helps to embed sustainable decision-making within corporations. We piloteda model ‘connected reporting’ frameworkto integrate sustainability reporting intoa company’s annual report and accounts,and have included this for the first timein our annual report for 2007.

External measures of our success include aglobal award for our innovative approachto embedding diversity across the groupfrom the World Diversity LeadershipCouncil, under the auspices of the UnitedNations Global Compact. Our pioneeringapproach to climate change disclosure ledto our being recognised as ‘Best in Class’by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP5), acoalition of more than 300 global investors,in a report on how major corporations areaddressing the challenges of climatechange. We were also awarded a bronze-class distinction in the SustainabilityYearbook 2008, compiled by SustainableAsset Management, the world’s mostcomprehensive publication on corporatesustainability. Aviva was one of only twoUK insurers awarded a class distinctionin the insurance sector.

I am extremely proud of our successes inthe field of CSR in the past year. I hopethat all our shareholders, business partners,customers and employees will share thatsense of pride, and support us as we lookto build on those achievements in the future.

Lord Sharman of Redlynch OBE

Chairman

Aviva’s purpose is to provide prosperity and peace of mind to our customers,and sustainability, an issue of global significance to our stakeholders andto our business internationally, is central to achieving that purpose. It isessential that, if we are to secure the future success of Aviva, we managenot just our own direct impact on the environment and society, butinfluence sustainable behaviour among our customers, our suppliersand the companies in which we invest.

“ Our response to the widelyreported threat from increasedcarbon emissions and risingtemperatures is to become thefirst insurer to be carbon neutralglobally. We already had a numberof successful schemes to reduceour carbon dioxide output. Nowwe have six projects in hand todeliver the remaining carboncredits we need.”

One Aviva. One global strategy.Chairman’s statement


Group chief executive’s statement

3

One of the ways we will achieve Aviva’spurpose is by realising the ‘One Aviva, twicethe value’ vision I announced in October2007. That vision is about maximisingthe value of our existing businessesby working better together. This willbenefit all Aviva stakeholders.

In delivering ‘One Aviva, twice the value’,Aviva benefits from having a clearlyarticulated CSR strategy. Our CSR strategyensures that we act responsibly over thelong term in how we do business. For us,CSR involves the responsible managementof our relationships with customers,employees, suppliers and shareholders.It also means managing the impact Avivahas upon society and the environment.Adherence to strong CSR principles is anessential part of Aviva’s long-term success.

We want our customers to trust Aviva.We aim to offer our customers a rangeof sustainable products and services thatmeet real needs. For example, Aviva Indiaprovides micro-finance services to help theunderprivileged, covering over one millionlives. And in France, our new homeinsurance product now includes an optionfor insuring against the failing or breakageof renewable energy devices such assolar and photovoltaic panels, and offersreduced premiums for having energy-efficient electrics and boilers, and usingrenewable fuels.

We are also committed to being a goodcorporate citizen wherever we operate.Aviva’s financial commitment to communityinitiatives and charitable causes worldwideduring 2007 was £6.75 million. Avivacontinues to support the Oxfam 365

Alliance, funding Oxfam’s emergency reliefwork, providing for a rapid response teamof aid workers and emergency supplies.We have also opened the first of four ‘AvivaAkanksha’ schools in Pune, India, for theeducation of underprivileged children.

We judge our success with our CSR agendanot just through our sales and profits,but also through the people who come towork at Aviva. Many of the talented peoplewe attract want to work for a companythat is both good for their careers andresponsible in how it behaves. We solicitfeedback every year through our globalclimate survey direct from our employees onhow far we are meeting their expectationson CSR. More than 40,000 of our staffresponded to that survey in 2007. I ampleased to say they told us that they sawvisible progress in Aviva’s delivery againstits CSR commitments.

As a large investor, we are very conscious ofthe need to consider carefully the questionof ethical investment. The UK CompaniesAct 2006 has made directors responsibleto a much wider group of people thanshareholders for the way in which theircompanies behave. Our investment arm,Morley Fund Management, has an excellenttrack record in socially responsible investmentand engages with companies in which itinvests to help improve their performance.

One of the biggest concerns facing ourindustry is climate change. I participatedin the Confederation of British Industry’sClimate Change Task Force. We issued areport in November 2007 which set outhow business, consumers and governmentmust share the responsibility for meeting

targets for reducing carbon dioxide pollution.A major step for us was to become carbonneutral. But simply offsetting our carbonemissions is not good enough – we mustalso drive down our own carbon footprint.I am pleased that our business units arecommitted to energy reductions and weachieved a 10.8% carbon reduction in ourexisting businesses in 2007. Further reductiontargets have been set for 2008. In our desirefor transparency on this issue, we signedup to the ClimateWise principles createdby a group of leading insurance companiesand organisations committed to takingaction on climate change and to reportingpublicly on their own performance.

The need for responsible behaviour bycommercial organisations has never beengreater. I am pleased by Aviva’s performanceto date, and thank our employees whoare making CSR part of their daily lives.We recognise that we have more to do asa company, and look forward to reportingon further progress next year.

Andrew MossGroup chief executive

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an extremely important issuefor Aviva. As a member of Aviva’s Board CSR Committee, I take a keenpersonal interest in the progress our initiatives are making around thegroup. I am determined that CSR issues will always be on the Avivaagenda and become ever-more embedded in the organisation.

Group chief executive’s statement

“ For us, CSR involves the responsiblemanagement of our relationshipswith customers, employees,suppliers and shareholders. It alsomeans managing the impactAviva has upon society and theenvironment. Adherence to strongCSR principles is an essential partof Aviva’s long-term success.”

Aviva plcBoard

Risk andRegulatoryCommittee

Board CSRCommittee

RemunerationCommittee

AvivaExecutive

Committee

NominationCommittee

Global CSRAdvisory Group

Group,regional and

country-level CSRrepresentatives

AuditCommittee

Aviva plcCorporate Social Responsibility Report 2008CSR strategy and governance

4

Insurers are facing challenging times andindustry trends indicate that this is likelyto continue. Climate change, shiftingdemographics, changing regulatory demandsand enhanced customer expectations arereal and evolving issues for our business.But it is also an exciting period for Aviva.We operate in a growing market withincreasing numbers of people investing intheir future wellbeing. We must focus onmanaging the risks and uncertainties, andcreate solutions for our customers that areprofitable and sustainable.

We continued to expand our business in2007, growing our existing operations andreaching into new markets. Guided byour vision of ‘One Aviva, twice the value’,our strategy is to transform from aninternational group into a truly integrated,global company. And to bring more ofour people closer to our customers, a coreingredient in this strategy, we adopteda regionalised structure.

Our plans for the future are to continueachieving ambitious levels of growth whileembedding the key values and behavioursto which we are committed across allour businesses. This brings both greatopportunities and challenges for ourorganisation and our people.

For us, a robust, clearly defined CSRstrategy gives us the framework we needto ensure that we are responsible andeffective in all areas of our operations;winning the support and trust of ourcustomers and partners; attracting andretaining high-calibre employees; andengaging fully with all our stakeholders.We’ve set out our main CSR priorities andfocus as follows:

• ensuring that CSR is integral to the way

we do business

• engaging our employees in CSR

• promoting diversity and human rights

• leading people

• talent management

• managing responsibility of our own

environmental impacts

• taking a leadership role in CSR in

our industry.

CSR strategy and governance

The Board CSR CommitteeTop to bottom: Lord Sharman ofRedlynch OBE, Andrew Moss, CarolePiwnica, Guillermo de la Dehesa,Wim Dik (chairman), Scott Wheway.

Our CSR vision: By acting responsibly for the long term inhow we do business, we will help meet our ambition toprovide prosperity and peace of mind for our customers.


CSR strategy and governance

5

Managing CSR

Aviva’s Board CSR Committee, chaired bysenior non-executive director Wim Dik,approves our CSR strategy, policies andplans, and reports to the plc Board atregular intervals during the year withupdates and reviews. John Ainley, groupHR director, leads teams from the group,regions and business units to implementthe strategy.

In 2007, we organised our ninth annualglobal CSR conference, which broughttogether 50 CSR representatives fromacross the group. This is an importantforum for the group to discuss Aviva’sapproach, review progress and targetareas that need more action. For us,it’s a platform that allows us to shareideas that have worked well in onebusiness and could be adapted toother Aviva operations. It also providesan opportunity to educate our CSRprofessionals on key issues such asclimate change and diversity. To keepthe momentum, we make sure that thegroup CSR team engages with regionalrepresentatives and, through them, businessunit CSR representatives, to ensure ourstrategy is effectively implemented.

CSR policy and risk management

In 2007, we consolidated our CSR, peopleand environment policies to align themto our strategy. We then undertook athorough review of all the risks associatedwith implementing these policies. Followingan extended period of consultation andapprovals, aligned to the group riskmanagement process, we have nowestablished a set of metrics to identifyrisks proactively and mitigate them. Theseoverarching policies and measures werelaunched at the beginning of 2008. Wewill continue to embed the policies andstrengthen our risk assessment process.

The best research and new ideas comefrom the comments and advice given by allour employees. In 2007, for the third yearrunning, we carried out a Global EmployeeClimate Survey. Seventy per cent ofemployees participated, giving their viewson a range of issues from diversity tocustomer focus, and communication toleadership. These findings form an integralpart of the CSR strategy review. As ameasure of their importance to Aviva,senior management remuneration is linkedto the annual employee survey results.

Engaging with our stakeholders

Our approach to managing CSR involvesthe participation of a wide range ofstakeholders in each area of the business.We engage with them at a number ofdifferent levels so that we can betterunderstand their needs and concerns.This may take the form of surveys,questionnaires, focus groups and one-to-one meetings. It may also involveworking with other organisations, suchas professional institutions, to developour research and understanding in keysubject areas. Such dialogue forms anessential part of our business strategy.

Key issues

Shareholders and investorsmust have confidence that we’reprofitable, ethically, socially andenvironmentally responsible,and that we operate a robustgovernance system.

Customers want to know thatthe products and services we offermeet their needs and that, in theirdealings with us, they are treatedfairly and openly.

Employees must be listened toand treated with respect. Theyneed to know that their individualcontribution counts.

Communities want a responsiblelocal partner that takes account ofits social and environmental impactsin the community.

Suppliers and partners have clearcommitments and expectations.Many operate their own CSRpolicies and are keen to workwith responsible partners.

NGOs and pressure groupsrequire assurance that our actionsmatch our words. They wantevidence that we are a responsiblecorporate citizen.

“ The Board CSR Committee is, withdevotion, carrying out its responsibilityfor ensuring that the CSR strategy andaction plans are robust; this ensuresmanagement does the right things inembedding CSR principles to meetAviva’s short- and long-term objectives.”

Wim Dik, chairman,Board CSR Committee

We apply these standards across allAviva operations worldwide, and weexpect equivalent standards from ourbusiness partners too.

Every six months, businesses arerequired to provide assurance that theyhave complied with the business ethicsprinciples, which focus on: commitment tofair business practices in our relationshipswith our customers, employees andsuppliers; commitment to transparentbusiness practices; commitment tohonest business practices; respecting theconfidentiality of information entrustedto the company; obeying the rule of law;and commitment to accurate and honestreporting to our stakeholders.

Our principles of good business ethics arecommunicated to employees in variousways, ranging from inclusion in inductionprogrammes and management trainingcourses, to our business in Canada seekingannual acknowledgement from allemployees that they understand andaccept the business’ code of conduct.

In 2007, we established different ways toensure standards, ethical behaviour andcorporate values were embedded in ouroperations and management processes.These are outlined here.

Treating customers fairly

In addition to obeying the rule of law,our business ethics principles are basedon a commitment to fair, transparent andhonest business practices. Our aim to alignour processes to the Financial ServicesAuthority (FSA) Treating Customers Fairlyinitiative, for instance, is reflected inNorwich Union initiatives that have:

• sought to identify and return £40 million

worth of unclaimed assets to 40,000

policy holders

• traced 6,000 fishermen with unclaimed

pension schemes through the ‘Find the

Fishermen’ campaign

• helped to educate consumers about the

importance of full medical disclosure

on applications for protection products,

leading to an 11% improvement in

claims paid since 2005.

Combating financial crime

Financial crime, which encompasses moneylaundering, fraud, malpractice and marketabuse, costs the financial services industrybillions of pounds each year, so we takethe detection, prevention and reportingof financial crime very seriously. We havespecific measures in place to minimisethe challenge it poses to our businessand customers, and remain committed tosupporting government, law enforcementagencies and other international bodies,for example, the Financial Action TaskForce on money laundering.

Our policies on anti-money laundering,fraud management and malpracticereporting have been replaced with oneclear policy covering all aspects of financialcrime. We also operate a networkresponsible for fighting financial crimeacross the group, and members receiveregular information, guidance and trainingon emerging trends and issues.

Aviva plcCorporate Social Responsibility Report 2008Business ethics and values

6

In everything we do, we aim to meet the highest standards ofbusiness conduct according to rigorous ethical, professionaland legal standards.

Business ethics and values

Our values

Progressiveness – having a vision ofthe future, encouraging innovationand improvement, and championingcontinuous learning. It is aboutleading the industry by listeningand responding to customers, andkeeping ahead of the competition.

Integrity – behaving in a wayconsistent with professional andethical standards. It is being open,honest and keeping commitments,taking personal responsibility forwhat we say and do. It is aboutearning trust and respect throughhonesty and fairness.

Performance – having cleargoals and achieving them byeveryone working towards themin an efficient manner.

Teamwork – committing to acommon vision and objectives,depending on one another, pullingtogether, and sharing knowledgeand learning. It is creating a senseof community in how we operate asa business, and means taking pridein our achievements.


Business ethics and values

7

Employees can contact ‘Safecall’, a24-hour confidential reporting service,to report instances of suspected fraud.First established in the UK, the serviceis available via email, telephone andthe internet and now extends to ourbusinesses in Europe, Asia and the USA.In 2007, 55 allegations were made acrossthe group: 41 from the UK, 10 from Indiaand Sri Lanka and four from our otheroperations worldwide. All cases werereferred for independent investigation,with 46 reaching conclusion while nineremain under investigation.

Respect for customer confidentiality

We respect the confidentiality of theinformation entrusted to us and haveanti-fraud procedures in place. Althoughthese procedures help us to maintain theconfidentiality of the information entrustedto us, the FSA fined Norwich Union Life£1.26 million in 2007 for 74 policies beingfraudulently surrendered the previous year.Obviously, we regard any such breach ofcustomers’ confidentiality as completelyunacceptable and cooperated fully with theFSA’s investigations. The number of caseswas a very small proportion of the 7 millionpolicies we hold and no customers sufferedfinancially, but given the serious nature ofthe matter, we have since improved ourfraud prevention processes and continueto monitor these controls.

Recognising right behaviours

We celebrate Aviva’s values through variousprogrammes that recognise the efforts ofemployees and teams in their day-to-daybusiness activities. These include:

• Aviva Values in Action Awards,

awarded to employees in India for

exemplary behaviour

• CARE Stars, 100 of which were awarded

to employees in China last year

• Aviva Super Star Awards in Singapore,

awarded to those who consistently

demonstrate Aviva’s values.

New recruits in some of our businesseseach receive an induction to explain ourvalues, while in Italy, they are outlined in apersonal ‘passport’ that all new employeesreceive on joining. All our efforts in thisarea are monitored through the employeesurvey, which captures feedback onwhether managers and employees areliving the Aviva values.

Looking ahead

A revised global guidance framework isbeing rolled out in 2008 to ensure furtherthat our business ethics principles areunderstood and embraced by employeesacross the group. In addition, a globalinduction programme – including keyinformation on these principles – willbe created and implemented for newemployees in 2008.

Another Aviva Super Star

In Singapore, the Aviva Super StarAwards are given to employeessuch as Shaun Hay from Trainingand Development, our firstrecipient, and Christabel Changfrom Employee Benefits andHealthcare (pictured), whoconsistently demonstrate Aviva’svalues of progressiveness, integrity,performance and teamwork.

“ At Aviva we promote a zero-tolerance approach to financialcrime. We believe that by reducingthe impact of financial crime inour own organisation, we can playa role in reducing the harmfulimpact of crime on society.”

Brendan Hawthorne, directorof group financial crime

Aviva plcCorporate Social Responsibility Report 2008Key performance indicators

8

Key performance indicators

We’ve measured elements of our CSR performance, such asenvironmental data, for a number of years. Now for the first time,we are publishing CSR key performance indicators (KPIs) acrossmore areas of our business. Some of these KPIs were monitoredin 2007, and will be strengthened in 2008, while others arebeing introduced. We have also established targets for manyKPIs in 2008 and we will update progress on these in 2009.

It remains a considerable challenge to ensure that KPIs are recorded accurately,completely and consistently across our global operations. Part of the process involvesdeveloping awareness of our goals, and we have recently established these metrics inour new people, CSR, environment, customer and supplier policies in addition to ourrisk and reporting framework.

“ 2007 has been a year of progressin our people and CSR agenda insupport of our ‘One Aviva, twicethe value’ vision. We have drivenan excellent programme througha new organisation structure,growth in new markets andstrengthening the responsibilityagenda. I am confident 2008 willbe a year of continuing progressand achievements based on thestrong foundation we laid in 2007.This would not have been possiblewithout the efforts of the teamsacross the world and I thank eachand every one of them fortheir continued dedicationand commitment.”

John Ainley, group HR director

Key performance indicator (KPI) 2006 2007 Status

Embedding CSR

Review of new business units’ CSR reporting - -

Number of board meetings addressing4 5

CSR policies and/or practice

Key awards and benchmarking given to the4 9

business for its CSR initiatives

Timelines and adequacy of communication- -

and reporting from businesses

Customers

International rollout of common ‘dashboard’of significant customer KPIs in 2008, which will

- -be reported against targets and, where appropriate,benchmarked against local competitors

Environment

CO2 emissions – existing and125,400 130,219

new businesses (tonnes)

Existing CO2 emissions125,400 111,845

(tonnes)

Change in existing business annual502,803 550,634

water used (m3)

Change in business annual waste –19,719 18,877

existing and new businesses (tonnes)

Change in annual amount of recycled waste –12,622 16,672

existing and new businesses (tonnes)

Key

No/limited improvementImprovementNew KPI*

* These indicators will be reported in 2009 and targets will be set to measure performance


Key performance indicators

9

Key performance indicator (KPI) 2006 2007 Status

People

Percentage of employees who consider that67 72

management supports diversity in the workplace**

Percentage of staff who feel that employees70 75

in the businesses are treated with respect**

Percentage of employees who participatedin Global Employee Climate Survey and rated 55 57us favourably on leadership index**

Percentage of employees who participatedin Global Employee Climate Survey and rated 67 73us favourably on engagement index**

Suppliers

Percentage of new business unit suppliers- -

signing the Supplier Code of Conduct

Percentage of existing targeted suppliers- -

signing the Supplier Code of Conduct

Number of contracts with a CSR weighting of- -

greater than 20% in the final decision process

Number of managed suppliers with a CSR- -

improvement plan and KPIs

Community

Aviva’s total investment in the community(company cash donations and staff 6.3 6.75volunteering) (£ million)

Employee hours spent volunteering - -

Percentage of employees who consider thattheir business acts responsibly in the 74 80society/community in which it operates**

One Aviva. One great team.

Our team of experts at grouplevel manage the policies andprogrammes that drive our CSRagenda forward. They work inclose partnership with regionalCSR representatives who, in turn,network with local CSR managersin our business units. An integralpart of their roles is to helpeducate, inform and engage thesupport of the stakeholders whoimpact on Aviva’s business.

Left to right, back row: Cathy Ching,Reena Dayal, Michelle Wolfe, SimiShasanya, Joanne Goddard; front row:David Hope, Louella Eastman, John Ainley.

“ We believe that what getsmeasured, gets done, so in 2007,we have put a lot of effort intoidentifying those performanceindicators that will help us tounderstand best where we arein our CSR journey.”

David Hope, group HRstrategy director

Our 2008 KPIs can also be found at:

www.aviva.com/csr08

** Global Employee Climate Survey responses

Aviva plcCorporate Social Responsibility Report 2008External benchmarking

10

Clean City Awards

Our waste reduction efforts in2007 were recognised by the Cityof London Corporation’s Clean CityAwards Scheme, with the Chairman’sCup going to Aviva Group Centreand Morley receiving a PlatinumAward for the second year running.

Launched in 1994, the Clean CityAwards Scheme is an initiative bythe City of London Corporationdesigned to recognise and rewardgood practice in waste management.

In partnership with the businesscommunity, the scheme works toreduce unsafe and unsightly wasteon the street, and to encouragethe reduction, reuse and recyclingof waste.

External benchmarking

A good test of how well we are integrating CSR throughout ourbusiness is through external benchmarking, from participating insurveys to being assessed on publicly available CSR materials.

Benchmarking gives us valuable feedbackon what is going well and what we coulddo better. Recent benchmarking activitiesare outlined below.

• Aviva continued to be included in the

Dow Jones Sustainability Worldand STOXX Indexes, which track the

economic, environmental and social

performance of the leading sustainability-

driven companies worldwide.

• Aviva was awarded a bronze-classdistinction in The SustainabilityYearbook 2008, compiled by SAM(Sustainable Asset Management).The world’s 2,500 largest companies, as

reflected in the Dow Jones Global Index,

are invited each year to participate, and

the top 15% in each of 57 sectors are

included in the publication. Aviva was

one of only two UK insurers awarded a

class distinction in the insurance sector.

• Aviva has been included in the

FTSE4Good Index Series from its

inception to the most recent September

review. The index measures the

performance of companies that meet

globally recognised standards on CSR.

• After completing our fifth annual survey

for the Carbon Disclosure Project(CDP5), a coalition of over 300 global

investors, we were honoured as ‘Bestin Class’ in our approach to climate

change disclosure and named as one

of the 68 FT500 companies in the

Climate Disclosure Leadership Index(CDLI), a roll of honour for global

corporations addressing the challenges

of climate change.

• For the second consecutive year, Aviva

was included in The Times Top 50‘Where Women Want to Work’ list,

which provides information on the

largest and most progressive employers

in the UK. Organisations are judged

on criteria including training and

development, work–life balance,

networking opportunities, and

reward and recognition.

• In November, Aviva was ranked 35thout of 100 in the 2007 AccountabilityRating of the world’s largest companies.

The rating, developed by leading CSR

consultancy csrnetwork and international

think-tank AccountAbility, rates the

extent to which companies have built

responsible business practices.

• Aviva’s ‘Think Again’ diversity campaign

was shortlisted by Race for Opportunityas a best-practice case study within

its Business Impact category, and

our ‘Respect Diversity’ toolkit was

identified by the Equal OpportunitiesCommission as a leading initiative.

We also improved our ranking from

120 to 78 in Stonewall’s WorkplaceEquality Index in response to improving

how we engage with lesbian and gay

staff, customers and service users.

• We took part in Business in theCommunity’s Corporate ResponsibilityIndex and will continue to monitor our

policies and programmes against other

companies to see where we can improve

our performance.

• A case study on Aviva appeared in

Closing the Gap, a best-practice guide

to gender equality in the workplace

produced by the Greater London Authority.

“ As the global CSR agenda evolves,expectations on companies toimprove their responsible businesspractices will continue to gainmomentum. This, coupled withour own aspiration to progresseach year, makes the performancebar go up. Benchmarking andexternal engagements form anintegral part of our strategy aswe share our leading practicesand learn from others.”

Louella Eastman, groupCSR director


External engagements

11

Accounting for Sustainability

In 2007, Aviva was one of threeorganisations, and the firstinsurance company, to participatein a new reporting tool created byHRH The Prince of Wales’ Accountingfor Sustainability project. Our groupCSR director Louella Eastman andgroup chief accountant Tim Harrissit on the steering group, whichinvolves detailed consultation withpublic and private companies,investors, accounting standardsbodies and NGOs.

The Connected Reporting Frameworkis a holistic tool, designed to helpcompanies to report on bothfinancial and sustainability issues.Underpinned by AccountancyStandards Board and GlobalReporting Initiative principles,the transparent and adaptableapproach enables organisations todevelop their reporting accordingto key sustainability criteriayet retain the freedom to includesector-specific information.

This year, we reported ourperformance in three environmentalareas: greenhouse gas emissions,resource use and waste (see chartson pages 18–19). We recorded ourcash flow performance, direct andindirect impacts on our stakeholdersand benchmarking information,providing context to both our recentperformance and future targets.

For further information, please see:

www.aviva.com/files/reports/2007ar/index.asp or ourAnnual Report and Accountsfor our contribution

www.sustainabilityatwork.org.ukfor more detail on thereporting model.

• Under the leadership of the Association

of British Insurers (ABI), we were one of

10 original companies to co-author the

ClimateWise principles launched by

HRH The Prince of Wales in September.

The group is currently developing a guide

to demonstrate how the principles can be

put into practice, and we are committed

to reporting annually on progress.

• As a member of The Confederation ofBritish Industry (CBI) Climate ChangeTask Force, our group chief executive

Andrew Moss contributed to ClimateChange: Everyone’s Business, published

in November. The report assesses the

challenges posed by climate change

and identifies actions necessary to meet

the Government’s carbon emissions

reduction target. Our carbon offset

programme was also the subject of

a case study.

• FORGE V – Managing ClimateChange in Financial Services is the

latest in a series of CSR projects that

Aviva and nine other companies have

contributed to, resulting in A GuidanceFramework of Climate Change forFinancial Services Companies. A set

of employee engagement materials

for member companies has also been

produced, and integrated into our

CSR toolkit.

• We are a member of the UnitedNations Global Compact, which

promotes responsible business in the

areas of environment, labour, human

rights and anti-corruption. We continue

to play an active part in the UK network

of the Global Compact, while some

of our businesses also engage in local

country networks.

• We take a leading role in the CharteredInstitute of Purchasing and Supply(CIPS) Financial Services PurchasingForum, a group of senior procurement

executives from leading financial services

companies, and chair the sub-group

dedicated to setting standards and

embedding CSR in the supply chain.

• To promote links between the

environment, sustainability and financial

performance, Aviva participates in three

working groups of the United NationsEnvironment Programme FinanceInitiative: Asset Management; General

Insurance, which published Insuring forSustainability, a report featuring two

case studies on Norwich Union; and

Climate Change, which created a

Climate Change Declaration for member

companies to endorse.

• Aviva continues to strengthen its diversity

commitment, share best practices, and

discuss challenges and opportunities

through membership of the ORC GlobalDiversity Forum. We are also a

member of the UK ORC forum.

• The www.leadershipandresponsibility.com

website went live in April, highlighting

our relationship with business school

INSEAD, where Aviva’s group HR

director John Ainley took responsibility

for the Aviva Chair in Leadership andResponsibility. The Chair was created

to explore the responsibilities associated

with the position of influence held by

business leaders and organisations,

particularly those in financial services.

• We launched our ’Respect Diversity’toolkit to HR professionals from a

number of leading FTSE100 companies.

The event was held to share best

practice within the HR community and

featured a demonstration of the toolkit

as well as presentations on how we

embed diversity within our organisation.

External engagements

We are proactive in our bid to improve our CSR performance.Working with other organisations helps us to focus on keyprojects, contributing ideas, expertise and our own experiences.

Aviva plcCorporate Social Responsibility Report 2008Customers

12

Peace of mind forour customers

In June and July 2007, more than51,000 Norwich Union customerswere affected by floods in the UK,and 4,300 had to evacuate theirhomes. Our repairers worked toget around 50% of them backin their homes by Christmas,surpassing the 40% target givento all insurers by the Associationof British Insurers. Our MobileAdvice Centre – a large yellowbus – visited flood-affected areasto provide customers with claimsadvice and practical help fromproperty repairers and restorers.We estimate to have paid outon claims worth more than£475 million, with somecustomers taking up the offerof a cash allowance towardsthe cost of decoration to speedup the process.

While we responded quicklyto an unprecedented naturalcatastrophe, we continue to doeverything we can to help thoseremaining customers who haveyet to return home to do so,and to make their temporaryliving arrangements as bearableas possible.

One Aviva. 45 million customers.Customers

We aim to provide our customers with prosperity and peace ofmind by offering them relevant, simple-to-understand productsthat they can trust.

For more information, please visit

www.aviva.com/csr08/customers

“ I can’t praise the assessors enough;they explained everything and wedidn’t have to wait for anything.Being back home was the bestChristmas present, while otherpeople I know are still in caravans,waiting for money from theirinsurance companies.”

Paula Mortimer, UK customer


Customers

13

Our CSR agenda lies at the very heart ofthe way we interact with our customers –in our vision and values, our strategies,our products and our services. In laying astrong foundation, our group customerpolicy directs uncompromising standardsof commitment to customers from allour staff.

We want customers to trust us, so we arefair and open with them, and empowerthem to make informed financial decisionsby training our people to determine theirindividual needs. We communicate asclearly as we can, make our products easyto understand and strive to offer helpful,professional service.

Responsible selling

We believe responsible selling starts withclear, open and honest dialogue withcustomers, so we treat every interactionwith a customer as an opportunity todeliver the best customer experience, andcalls are monitored randomly to ensurethat agents in our call centres provide ahigh-quality service every time. In the USA,agents proactively call customers a fewdays after a purchase to welcome themto Aviva, ensure they are happy withtheir new coverage and the service theyreceived, and answer any questions.Feedback on this ‘Welcome Call’programme shows a 95% ‘goodto excellent’ rating to date.

Aviva continues to invest in staff trainingand coaching to ensure agents have thetools and skills to identify each customer’sspecific needs, and confidently advise onsuitable products and services. In Sri Lanka,Eagle Insurance sales staff undergoextensive training at the first in-companycentre outside the UK to be recognised bythe Chartered Institute of Marketing, andtop performers regularly receive furtheroverseas training on sales, marketing andcustomer care techniques. To minimisethe possibility of mis-selling unit-linked

products, recently introduced to the SriLankan market, only those agents whoundertake company training are licensedto sell such products directly to customers.

Aviva Australia was ranked first in the2007 Taylor Life Insurance Industry Survey,which questions more than 1,600 protectionadvisers in order to benchmark the leadinglife insurance providers. The company’sfive-star rating, and particularly strongresults in the ‘underwriting speed’,‘timeliness of processing applications’and ‘partnerships and relationships’categories, confirms Aviva’s place asa market leader in service delivery.

Socially responsible products

We consistently aim to offer our customersa range of sustainable products andservices that meet real needs.

Socially responsible motoring initiativesinclude Norwich Union’s UK ‘Pay As YouDrive’™ car insurance, which usestelematics technology to assess where,when and how far young and lower-mileage drivers drive. A third of customersaged 18–23 are saving at least 40% ontheir premiums and, more importantly,accidents have been reduced becausethe scheme encourages young driversto stay off the roads at high-risk periods,such as at night. Claims by young drivershave fallen by over 30%.

In Canada, we doubled the numberof policy holders in our Autographprogramme, which also offers lowerpremiums to people driving shorterdistances and at off-peak times. In theNetherlands, Delta Lloyd has launched asustainable ‘green’ motor insurance. Forevery policy taken out, seven trees a yearare planted in sustainable forests. Theproduct, the first in a new sustainable‘product line’, is supported by thenational climate campaign HIER.

Growing goodwill inemerging markets

Aviva-COFCO, our joint venturein China, was awarded the 2007Foreign Life Insurance Companyproviding the Best Services in afinancial management surveyconducted by SOHU, one of China’slargest websites. The companyalso received the accolade of‘Most Competitive MultinationalCompany in China’ at theInternational CEO Roundtableof Chinese and ForeignMultinational Corporations.

Aviva plcCorporate Social Responsibility Report 2008Customers

14

To encourage life insurance customersto lead healthier lifestyles, as well as savemoney, Aviva USA launched the Wellnessfor Life programme in 2007. Customersare eligible for potential savings by havingregular check-ups with their doctor, andcan reduce their insurance costs further bymeeting other criteria, such as maintainingan agreed body weight.

As for protecting the environment, AvivaFrance’s new home insurance productincludes an option for insuring against thefailing or breakage of renewable energydevices such as solar and photovoltaicpanels. It offers reduced premiums forhaving energy-efficient electrics andboilers, and using renewable fuels.

Socially responsible investments

With more than £164.2 billion of assetsunder management through its fundmanagement business Morley, Avivahas been a leader in socially responsibleinvestment (SRI) since 2000. More recently,Morley became a signatory to the UNPrinciples for Responsible Investment andthe Institutional Investors’ Statement onClimate Change. It was rated the numberone fund manager for its understanding ofSRI and extra-financial issues for the thirdyear running in the Thomson Extel survey.

We can promote more sustainable businesspractices by increasing the funds undermanagement in our specialist SRI funds.We had £1.2 billion invested in companiesthat lead the way in environmental andsocial practices or that offer productsand services that support sustainabledevelopment. The key CSR impacts ofour fund management business originate,indirectly, from the impacts of thecompanies in which we invest, so we tryto mitigate these impacts by engagingwith those companies we invest in andencouraging them to exhibit moreresponsible business practices.

Our commitment to socially responsibleinvestment is worldwide. Aviva Italy beganinvesting in a socially responsible fund in2006, and launched a new product withsimilar features in 2007. The index-linkedPresente e Futuro fund invests in a basketof indexes including the Wilderhill newenergy global index and S&P globalwater, a fund that invests in organisationsoperating in renewable energy andwater sectors.

In India, customers can choose betweenfour funds when investing in our unit-linked products, while Eagle Insurancehas widened customer choice in Sri Lankawith the introduction of new unit-linked‘investment insurance’ products, whichoffer a range of funds investing in sectorsranging from government securitiesto equities.

Improving financial literacy

Norwich Union staff in York and Sheffieldlearned more about managing theirpersonal finances at ‘Make the Most ofyour Money’ workshops. These FinancialServices Authority events, being rolledout across the UK during 2008, will helpat least 10 million people in the UK –including our staff – to improve theirunderstanding of financial products.

We rolled out our ‘Six-Steps’ website(www.six-steps.org) internationally in2007. The site, which contains a simpleretirement planner, gives free, impartialadvice about preparing for retirement,and was named Best Corporate SocialResponsibility Programme at the 2007Institute of Financial Services FinancialInnovation Awards. The judges commentedthat this “accessible, engaging and jargon-free website meets a massive, currentlyunfulfilled, need across the UK. Financialeducation of this nature will havesignificant long-term benefits and Avivashould be proud of its contribution”.

Life cover in India

Aviva India provides a range offinancial products and servicesto help the underprivileged andcombat poverty.

For example, one new micro-insurance plan, GrameenSuraksha, reduces the burdenon rural policy holders, who paypremiums for just two years andthen realise the term benefit forfive or 10 years. The schemecurrently covers more than 1.1million lives, and hopes to bringthe benefits of life insurance toa wider rural population.

India’s first comprehensive childcare plan, ‘Aviva Little Master’,is designed to take care of thecurrent and future needs ofchildren should they be orphaned.

“ Our core purpose – to provideprosperity and peace of mind for ourcustomers – underpins everythingwe do. This is so important to us.We must never forget the potentiallyhuge impact – financial andemotional – we can have on ourcustomers’ lives and we use thisto guide all our activity.”

Sally Shire, group branddevelopment director


Customers

15

To help consumers to understand how toturn their pension into a regular incomeupon retirement, Norwich Union producedan educational guide to annuities. Theeasy-to-read brochure, also available onnorwichunion.com and the ‘Make SenseOf It’ website (www.makesenseofit.com),is intended to guide customers throughthe maze of investment, protection,retirement and pension products. Similarly,in Lithuania, we launched a new investmentproduct, ‘Aviva funds’, to promote long-term financial planning and saving, bothrelatively new concepts in the country.

Satisfied customers

One of our key objectives in 2007 wasto enhance the quality of our service tocustomers. Training initiatives included thepre-sales training given to 124 advisers inour Aviva Global Services operation inPune, India, while the GEM programme,launched in May within our life businessin Ireland, focused on ‘Going the ExtraMile for Service’.

We also understand the need to keepour claims processes simple and easy, soin Canada, for example, customers have asingle point of contact for the duration oftheir claim. Access to a customer complaintprocess and a 1-800 ‘claims SOS’ numberhave helped to achieve a claimantsatisfaction rate of 93%. Multilingualassistance is being piloted in 2008.

We treat feedback with the utmostrespect, and continually seek customerviews through surveys and questionnaires.Norwich Union was one of the firstcompanies to join the Customer ImpactScheme, an independent survey launchedby the Association of British Insurers toask customers for their opinions aboutproducts, communication and customerservice. We shared the results in ourfirst Improvements For You report.Encouragingly, 80% of those surveyedagreed we were easy to do business with,and the same percentage thought wetreated our customers fairly. In responseto other scores, we’ve improved the clarity

and relevance of the letters and statementswe send out, introduced freephone numbersfor existing customers and set up aCustomer Service Academy, accreditedby the Chartered Insurance Institute, toimprove the technical knowledge andcustomer service skills of our staff.

Our businesses have adopted local‘touch point’ surveys after customershave experienced our service, and ourUS call centres will be introducing qualitymonitoring to improve their performance.For 2008, they have set themselves anobjective of answering 80% of calls within20 seconds with 95% accuracy. AvivaUSA swept the honours in Senior MarketAdvisor magazine’s annual Readers’ ChoiceAwards, topping four of the 13 categoriesand finishing runner-up in another three.

We strive to ensure that complaints areresolved quickly and fully, using them toreview and strengthen our policies andpractices as needed. Our efforts have beenreflected in improved Customer Experiencedatabase scores among household claimsadvisers for Norwich Union Direct in Noida,India, and the ‘Net Promoter Score’ usedby our Australian business, which gaugesthe number of customers willing torecommend us to a friend or colleague.

Looking ahead

Our efforts to promote responsible productsacross our business sectors, as well asgenerate awareness of our own CSRprogrammes, are gaining momentum.However, there is always more to be done.We need to step up our efforts to giveour employees, particularly in marketingfunctions, the necessary informationto promote both our new responsibleproduct lines and our approach todoing business.

We are committed to standardising ourcustomer performance measures acrossthe group. At the end of 2007, a numberof customer key performance indicatorswere launched in the UK and these willbe extended to and reported on by ourinternational businesses in 2008.

SMS reminder service

Direct debits are still uncommonin Romania, so to support andencourage the timely paymentof premiums, Aviva Romanialaunched a new SMS reminderservice in March 2007. Two daysbefore their premium paymentis due, customers with mobilephones receive a reminderby text. This is the first initiativeof a wider programme toimprove customer loyalty throughclearer communication, betterprocesses and more flexiblepayment methods.

RAC leading from the front

Quality audits and customerexperience workshops are helpingRAC contact centre agents toimprove their rapport withcustomers, and listening forumshave been run at the Bristolcontact centre to share customerand colleague opinions. RAC’sapproach has seen the companytop the JD Power and Associates’UK Roadside Assistance survey forthe second consecutive year.

Aviva plcCorporate Social Responsibility Report 2008Environment

16

Offsetting ourcarbon emissions

As the first insurer to make ourglobal operations carbon neutral,we offset our outstanding carbonemissions by retrospectivelyinvesting in projects thatgenerate carbon credits, eitherthrough carbon mitigationor renewable energy.

The schemes, administered in2007 by carbon brokers ClimateCare and CarbonAided, are abalance of commercial andsocial projects, and include:

• biogas projects in Sri Lanka,which use methane for cookingand lighting rather than wood,an increasingly expensive andscarce fuel source

• human-powered treadlepumps, vital for irrigation inrural areas like Bihar and UttarPradesh, India, where rentedpumps require expensiveand polluting diesel

• wind turbines in HebeiProvince, China, and TamilNahdu, India

• more efficient cooking stovesin Africa

• ‘green cement’ in theNetherlands and Ireland.

One Aviva. One world.Environment

Amid mounting evidence that climate change is due togreenhouse gas emissions, managing our impact on theenvironment is a central part of our CSR programme.


www.aviva.com/csr08/environment

“ Aviva works in regions where ithas a presence or where there isan urgent need for carbon finance.Through funding sustainabledevelopment projects, Aviva isgiving back to communities aswell as making real emissionsreductions. As a result of ourpartnership, we are developingnew, innovative projects onAviva’s behalf in India and Africa.”

David Wellington, managingdirector, Climate Care

Source: International Development Enterprises (IDE)IDE India has been working in 15 major Indian states,providing more than 850,000 farmers with green technology


Environment

17

We care deeply about reducing ourimpact on the environment, and becamethe first insurer to be carbon neutral ona worldwide basis. We have reducedour energy consumption in our existingbusinesses and source zero emissionpower wherever we can.

This continues to be a considerableundertaking, but we are committedto using our power as an investor andpurchaser to encourage otherorganisations to be more responsible,to enthuse our employees to reducetheir own carbon emissions and to offerenvironmentally responsible productsto our customers.

The climate change challenge

Our energy strategy is to invest in newenergy-saving technology and to reduceour dependency on fossil fuels. We areprepared to pay up to a 2% premium forpurchasing electricity from renewableand zero emission sources.

Our focus on combating climate changeintensified in 2007 on three fronts: carbonreduction, carbon offsetting and enhancedemployee education and engagement.

Despite some of the initiatives outlinedbelow, we cannot reduce our carbonemissions completely, so we offset ourremaining emissions – mainly frombuildings and business travel – by fundingprojects that generate carbon credits (seethe case study opposite). Retrospectivelyoffsetting our 2006 emissions cost usapproximately £800,000 in 2007.

Reducing our carbon footprint

Although we are growing organically andby acquisition, we will still strive to reduceour emissions per full-time equivalent

employee. Our aim is to reduce the impactof our activities on the environment bytaking steps to be more energy-efficient,carbon conscious and climate-friendly. In2007, our efforts delivered a 10.8% globalreduction in CO2 emissions across ourexisting businesses. We are reporting onfive new businesses this year in the USA,Russia, Malaysia, Taiwan and our globalservices business in India.

Our carbon footprint is made up ofemissions from our business travel andenergy use in our buildings. We endeavourto collect all applicable data butacknowledge that some data may notalways be available. To compensate, weadd a 5% margin of error to our emissionstotal when purchasing offsets.

Early in 2007, the newly formed EnergySteering Group issued a UK energy policyand a ‘5, 4, 3’ strategy to reduce like-for-like usage of electricity by 5%, gas andCO2 by 4%, and water by 3%. More than50 energy-saving initiatives have beenemployed, including removing backlightsfrom drinks machines, trialling a devicethat stops boilers firing up unnecessarilyand investigating automated power-savingmodes on PCs. The reductions achievedhave generally exceeded expectations:water use was reduced by 4.8% and gasby 12.3%. Electricity use also fell, by3.9%, and although we use zero emissionelectricity, the equivalent saving is stillmore than 314 tonnes of CO2.

To save energy, Aviva Australia phased outthe use of screensavers during the year,and all computers now switch to ‘sleep’mode after 10 minutes of idle activity.

In 2008, we have set ourselves a globalreduction target on carbon emissions of 5%.

Zero emission electricity

In 2007, 61% of our worldwideelectricity was purchased fromsuppliers providing renewable andzero emission electricity generatedby wind, solar, biomass, hydro, andcombined heat and power (CHP)sources, an increase of 6% from lastyear. We expect this percentage toincrease in 2008 as our businesseseither increase their use of zeroemission electricity or switch fromelectricity generated from fossilfuels to renewable sources.

In Australia, we signed a contractin late 2007 to begin using 25%‘green energy’ for our Melbournepremises while Hibernian in Irelandplans to purchase 100% renewableenergy for its branches in 2008.

Earthwatch award

As part of our commitment to theclimate change agenda, Aviva plcpresented an Aviva/Earthwatchinternational award for climatechange research to Dr ChrisStevenson. This £6,000 award willallow Dr Stevenson to continue hiswork on Easter Island, where he isinvestigating whether prolongedclimate change was the cause ofsocietal demise over 300 years ago.This crucial work could provide amodel for Earth’s resistance toclimate change.

Aviva plcCorporate Social Responsibility Report 2008Environment

18

Resource-efficient buildings

Around the world, we have madeenvironmental savings in our buildingsduring construction and refurbishmentprojects. These include ‘green building’schemes, which have encompassed thegreater use of natural light, such as theAtrium in Hibernian’s new head officein Dublin, and collecting rainwater(greywater) for flushing toilets. Forexample, two projects to harvest rainwaterat our Delhi operations, established inMarch and July, have collected approximately2.6 million litres of rainwater to date foruse in WCs and gardens.

Aviva Australia is phasing in new printersand other equipment to reduce powerconsumption and emissions, and Morley’sProperty team is working to reduce theenvironmental impact of our investmentproperties by improving recycling andmaking more efficient use of resources,especially in relation to energy consumption.And in the USA, our new office in DesMoines will be built to the Leadershipin Energy and Environmental Design(LEED) standard providing a highlyenergy-efficient building.

Cutting travel emissions

We try to avoid business travel where wecan and encourage our employees to findresponsible ways of commuting to work,such as using public transport, cycling,walking and car-sharing. For instance,Aviva France tied in with national eventssuch as European Mobility Week, duringwhich more than 160 employees signedup to a new online car-sharing database,while other campaigns promoted cyclingand walking for short journeys.

To reduce long-distance travel, wehave launched our first high-definitiontelepresence conferencing suites at group

centre in London and Wellington Row,York. Suites in Norwich, Pune (India) andthe regional offices for North Americaand Asia Pacific go live from April 2008.

Aviva Canada’s decision to reduce itscar fleet from eight models to just one,smaller-engined car will save about 504 kgof CO2 per vehicle each year. Elsewhere,Aviva Group Centre has transferred its taxicontract to Addison Lee, which is carbonneutral, and we are also working with ourvehicles service fleet (RAC) to investigatealternative lower carbon-intensive fuels.Our executive fleet has been dramaticallyreduced and the remaining cars havebeen specifically chosen for theirenvironmental performance.

Waste management and recycling

In 2007, the total waste we generateddecreased to 18,877 tonnes (2006:19,719 tonnes) and the amount werecycled increased to 16,672 tonnes(2006: 12,622 tonnes). This is a significantachievement and one we are committed tocontinuing, as we work to eliminate wastefrom the business. Our efforts in Sri Lankaled to 26,478 kg of waste paper beingrecycled in 2007 and RAC subsidiarycompany Auto Windscreens recycled morethan 7,300 tonnes of glass. The proportionof waste recycled increased from 64% to88% in the UK, where we have recyclingschemes for 14 different types of waste.

Our successful ‘binless office’ conceptis being rolled out to other businesses,including Aviva Australia and Morley,which also introduced initiatives rangingfrom reusing disposable coffee trays torecycling mobile phones. Such effortswere recognised by others, including theCity of London Corporation’s Clean CityAwards Scheme (see page 10).

Keeping vehicle emissionsin check

In recognition of RAC’sinvestment in projects to reduceits carbon footprint and createboth environmental and socialbenefits, the company retainedthe Breakdown/RecoveryCompany of the Year title in the2007 Greenfleet Awards. Judgeswere impressed with innovationssuch as the eco-sheets that itsvehicle check subsidiary company,HPI, provide free of charge toused car dealers. These allowbuyers to make more informeddecisions based on emissionsand fuel economy data.

“ One in three motorists considersCO2 emissions when buying a car.Ultimately, our aim is to encouragemore motorists to think aboutpurchasing a used vehicle withlower CO2 emissions.”

Daniel Burgess, automotivedirector, HPI

Aviva goes solar

To help raise awareness of theneed to reduce our transportemissions, the Aviva SouthernAurora solar car took part in thePanasonic World Solar Challengein Australia in October 2007.More than 40 teams participated,driving the 3,000 kilometres fromDarwin to Adelaide with onlysunlight for fuel. The Aviva-sponsored car finished third in itsclass, and sixth overall. Capableof reaching 75 kph, the car runson less electricity than a toasterand emits no carbon dioxide.For more information, visitwww.avivasolarcar.com andwww.wsc.org.au

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Environment

19

Reducing our paper use

We are constantly looking for ways to useless paper in our business, and to use morepaper with recycled content. However, thisis a challenge for us and in 2007, ourpaper consumption rose to 12,875 tonnes,up from 8,132 tonnes in 2006.

Aviva makes good use of electroniccommunications to reduce the amountof paper we use. For example, employeescan view many corporate policies andprocedures on the intranet and otherweb-based applications, while UK brokershave online access to policy informationthrough the broker portal initiative.

Many of our businesses find that the easiestway to cut down on paper is to haveprinters set to default to double-sidedprinting, such as Aviva’s headquarters inLondon and Hibernian in Ireland. And atDelta Lloyd in the Netherlands, Germanyand Belgium, we use paper from sustainablesources for printing and copying.

In Poland, the promotion of payments bydirect debit has helped to reduce theconsumption of paper through giros andprinted correspondence, and Aviva Canadadeveloped an e-card for the 2007 holidayseason, which helped to reduce waste,save trees and reduce the CO2 associatedwith the production and distribution ofstandard cards. The money saved inpostage was donated to ThinkFirst,Aviva Canada’s signature charity.

Getting everyone involved

Employee awareness was enhanced byengaging staff in the environmentalagenda and explaining the many aspectsof environmental management, whichresulted in a six-point improvement inour global survey responses to questionscovering environmental responsibility(see pages 8–9).

Our efforts included an environment day aspart of the CSR Awareness Week in France,and an Energy Savings Week in the UK,which engaged employees with a hostof initiatives and activities, including anopportunity to calculate and offset carbonemissions via a payroll giving option.Similarly, Aviva Group Centre achieved an8.6% reduction in electricity consumptionthrough simple initiatives such as ‘The BigSwitch Off’, in which all non-essentiallighting and equipment are turned off atnight, and its participation in the 2007Lights Out London campaign.

Externally, our chief executive officerAndrew Moss participates in the CBIClimate Change Taskforce, which calledon government, business and consumersto factor climate change into day-to-daylife, and we were co-authors and a foundersignatory to the ClimateWise principles,created specifically for insurers. Wecontinue to engage with our employeeson this important issue.

Looking ahead

In 2007 we have achieved good progresson our environmental impact, however weshould not become complacent. Thereforeour plans for 2008 focus on reducing ourenvironmental impacts further, particularlyin areas such as carbon, water consumptionand paper usage. We are committed tomaintaining our position in being carbonneutral. We will continue to raise awarenesswithin Aviva of how our business unitscan contribute to improving Aviva’senvironmental performance and influencethe individual actions of employees.

“ We made good progress in 2007to move our environmental agendaforward. While there are still manysteps we can take to improve, thecommitment and progress made byour employees and teams acrossthe world is very encouraging.”

Zelda Bentham, groupenvironment manager

Paper Tree Foundation

As part of a new partnership withCopacul de Hartie (‘The Paper Tree’),a non-governmental organisation,Aviva Romania introduced paper-only bins that were collected byPaper Tree volunteers for recycling.The money raised is used to planttrees across Bucharest. In the eightmonths since the project waslaunched, more than 330 companiesand 60 individuals have provided140,000 kg of paper and 17,000 kgof cardboard for recycling, and1,120 young trees have been plantedin Bucharest. For more information,see www.copaculdehartie.ro

Power Smart Contest 2007

Aviva Hong Kong sponsored the‘Power Smart Contest 2007’organised by Friends of the Earth,Hong Kong. This project is anappeal to the public to reducetheir electricity consumption andthe emissions of power plants inHong Kong in order to mitigatethe dangers of air pollution. AvivaHK is the first company from thecommercial sector to sponsor thiscampaign. The contest requiredeach participating household tosave at least 3% on electricityconsumption in any two consecutivemonths from June to August in2007 as compared to the sameperiod in 2006.

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12,000

14,000

16,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Paper consumption (tonnes) kg per employee

0

50

100

150

200

250

Aviva plcCorporate Social Responsibility Report 2008People

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Embedding diversity

To integrate our diversity vision,we created an online ‘RespectDiversity’ toolkit that enablesus to share best practice andbenchmarking information acrossthe group through trainingmaterials, interactive games,presentations and DVDs. Muchof this information has sincebeen included in NorwichUnion’s ‘Respect’ intranet sitefor employees.

Our ‘Respect Diversity’ initiativeand toolkit were recognised asbest practice by the UK’s EqualOpportunities Commissionand cited by the judges at theWorld Diversity LeadershipSummit, hosted by the UnitedNations Global Compact, whichhonoured Aviva with a GlobalInnovation Award.

As part of the European Yearof Equal Opportunities for All,Hibernian amended its Equalitypolicy to include additionalwording covering diversityand during Diversity Week,Aviva France demonstrated itscommitment by signing a newDiversity Charter initiated byIMS – Entreprendre pour la Cité,an association of 180 businessescommitted to social responsibilityand partnership.

One Aviva. 57,000 people.People

“ Relying on teams that combinestaff from different backgrounds,with diverse experiences andperspectives, represents a realcompetitive advantage.”

Myriam Saunier, HR developmentmanager, Aviva France

We want our people to help to create a great place to work anda company they can be proud of. We also value and celebratediversity, which helps us to compete effectively as a global business.


www.aviva.com/csr08/people


People

21

To be a company that people areproud to work for, and where they feelrespected and inspired to give their best,we need to invest in our relationshipswith our employees. To achieve our aims,human resources teams around thebusiness ensure we comply with our ownpolicies, such as the Group People strategy,as well as the relevant employment law.

Much of our efforts to date have focusedon improving our talent managementprocess; recruiting and developing thefuture leaders of our business; and buildingand communicating a strong employmentbrand. This was supported by a 70%participation rate in our Global EmployeeClimate Survey, in which 70% ofparticipants agreed that Aviva is agreat place to work.

Diversity, equality and human rights

Being a global organisation spread across27 countries, multiple time zones andmany cultures brings its challenges.We address these through our diversityprogramme, which embodies the keyprinciples of respect, valuing differencesand inclusion, and measures that ensurerespect, fairness and equality among ouremployees. These range from policies thatembody the UN’s Universal Declarationof Human Rights and the InternationalLabour Organization’s core labourstandards to specific initiatives promotingequal opportunities. Business units will berequired to report against diversity targetsin future.

Our diversity agenda has been strengthenedby employee networks such as the GlobalSenior Women’s Network, establishedto help make senior women accountablefor nurturing female talent around thegroup. An event in Madrid was attendedby 50 women in senior management fromacross the group, and the network’s successhas led to the creation of further groups inLondon and Norwich.

Pride Aviva, our lesbian, gay, bisexual andtransgender network, has increased itsmembership to 150 in the UK, and playeda role in securing company sponsorship ofStonewall’s first-ever gay youth event inthe UK. The event offered practical adviceon being gay in 21st-century Britainthrough a mix of inspirational speakersand workshops.

Aviva was ranked 78th in the 2008Workplace Equality Index, Stonewall’s Top100 employers for gay people in Britain.While this shows improvement on ourprevious ranking of 120th, Aviva remainscommitted to improving its score.

We continue to integrate the key principlesof diversity into our business practices,and in 2008, we will raise awareness ofmulticulturalism, and the benefits thisbrings to us as a global organisation.

Talking talent

We want to create an environmentwhere all our people are encouraged andsupported to develop their skills, give oftheir best and achieve their full potential,as well as to maximise productivity andfulfil our business objectives. Therefore,managing our employee talent isfundamental to our success.

In 2007, we put in place Talking Talent, agroup-wide management framework toassess how individual performance alignswith future potential as well as widerbusiness initiatives. Talking Talent coversall aspects of attraction, recruitment,development and retention across ourentire organisation. It underpins our beliefthat all our people have talent thatcan be harnessed to the benefit of ourcustomers if those talents are deployedeffectively. The programme was piloted in2007 and has already featured in externalevents such as the Leadership Architect’sconference in Chicago, USA. It will berolled out globally in 2008 and 2009.

Learning and development

Aviva is committed to fosteringa culture of lifelong learning andprovides many training opportunities,with the main focus on leadership,professional development andqualifications, and core skillstraining. Aviva-COFCO, our jointventure in China, was given the‘Best Channel Strategy’ award byChina Insurance Marketingmagazine for its training centre forbrokers, while in the coming year,Aviva USA will invest $2 millionin learning and development,including the development of‘Aviva USA University’.

Best e-learning programme

Norwich Union Learning andDevelopment topped the BestE-Learning Programme categoryin the prestigious Training JournalAwards, with judges describing the‘Putting Customers at the Heartof Everything We Do’ programmeas “an innovative e-learningprogramme that has producedtangible results”. The programmehelped Norwich Union to delivermore than 196,000 hours ofonline training in 2007.

Aviva plcCorporate Social Responsibility Report 2008People

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Delta Lloyd Group invests heavily in personaland career development, with all managersattending a workshop to assist with thepersonal development of their staff, andemployees perform a self-assessmentPersonal Development Scan to identifytheir characteristics and competencies.

Towards the end of 2007, a number ofAviva’s senior leaders took part in theGlobal Talent Management survey, thelatest research on the worldwide ‘waron talent’ from McKinsey.

Leading people

We want to be known as an organisationthat develops exceptional leaders, so in2007, we developed a leadership feedbacktool which we will extend across the groupin 2008 and 2009. The tool, which wassuccessfully piloted in 2007 in Australia andIndia, is intended to increase line managers’ability to:

• manage their impact on other people

• maximise the performance of every

employee

• increase their own skills

• bring to life six outcomes that will create

a great place to work, including respect,

praise and clarity.

During the course of 2007, we alsoredesigned the programmes offeredthrough the Aviva Leadership Academy,which provides an opportunity for Avivamanagers to gain deeper self-insightand awareness of the impact of theirleadership. It strongly supports the‘One Aviva’ concept by encouragingan international network of colleaguesto learn from each other.

Twenty-two employees in Hibernianare currently participating in ‘Horizon’,a personal development programmeto identify and support high-potentialemployees, while Romania and Francepiloted the Leadership Target Plusprogramme, and Aviva Lithuania establishedthe Academy of Managers, which offeredsessions on situational management andcoaching techniques during the year.

The ‘Development for Tomorrow’programme in Sri Lanka identified 24 futuresales leaders to undertake secondments withsenior regional mentors for more ‘hands-on’

development, and our Leading into theFuture and Building the Future programmesin Canada, attended by more than 370people managers, were awarded the SilverAward of Excellence from the CanadianSociety for Training and Development.

Global Employee Climate Survey

An important way for Aviva employeesto share their views – voluntarily andanonymously – is through participationin Aviva’s Global Employee ClimateSurvey. This annual exercise allows us tobenchmark progress and drive continuousbusiness improvement.

In 2007, 42,443 employees responded toour third survey, which equates to a 70%participation rate, up from 66% in 2006;notably high participation rates were foundin Sri Lanka, China and Taiwan (100%)and Lithuania (98%). The results showedimprovement in all categories andimproved performance against ourexternal benchmark of performance inglobal financial services companies.

Experiencing Aviva

In 2007, we conducted extensive researchthrough focus groups into our employees’experiences of working for Aviva to helpus understand what Aviva meant to themas an employer. These findings and ourGlobal Employee Climate Survey arebeing worked into an employment brandstrategy, enabling us to attract and retaintalent in highly competitive markets.

Being open with our people and makingthem feel involved is an important partof our culture, and helps us to build onstrengths and make improvements. Webelieve that people should have an inputinto decisions that affect them so we havetaken steps to create a culture of opennessand inclusivity. These include a range ofways for employees to pass on their viewsand suggestions, including Morley’s staffconference, our European ConsultativeForum and ‘Your Forum’ in the UK.

Employee engagement meetings in Poland,called Flesz, encourage employees to actas speakers, presenters and hosts fordiscussions on a range of topics. Smallgroups of employees in India regularlymeet the CEO to discuss issues of concern,and more than 800 Aviva USA employees

“ At Aviva, the Global EmployeeClimate Survey is a businessmanagement tool that provideslive and direct feedback from ourteams across the world. During2007, we showed progress on ourengagement and leadership scoreswhich were up 6 and 2 points over2006 respectively. This reflects thework undertaken in 2007 to focusand embed the people strategy.”

Reena Dayal, global projectmanager for Global EmployeeClimate Survey 2007

“ The Global Employee Climate Surveyis a great opportunity to get multipleperspectives and a good barometerof how we are viewed as anemployer. It provides insight onareas that we can focus on to makeAviva a more challenging, excitingand rewarding place to work.”

Brian Clark, executive vice presidentand chief product officer, Aviva USA

0

10

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30

40

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60

70

2005 2006 2007

EngagementLeadership

2007 Global Employee ClimateSurvey responses


People

23

completed a short online survey about thedesign for the new head office, helping tocreate an efficient, pleasant and productivework environment.

We also participate in external surveys andbenchmark studies to compare ourselveswith best practice and to learn from whatothers do. In 2007, Aviva in the UK wasincluded in The Times ‘Top 50 PlacesWhere Women Want to Work’ list forthe second consecutive year, while ourbusinesses in Ireland, Australia and Indiawere once again listed in national ‘GreatPlaces to Work’ surveys.

Employer surveys will feature as a key partof our programmes in the coming year,both as a tool to aid our own developmentand to enhance our reputation as anemployer people want to work for.

Managing change

We employ some 57,000 people worldwidein a new structure comprising four regions:the UK, Europe, Asia Pacific and NorthAmerica. Together with Morley and ourGroup Centre function, we are experiencinggrowth and sharing best practices betweenregions. To help set up this new structure,there were a number of moves among oursenior people in 2007, creating a betterbalance of talent across the group.

As with all major structural change,we sought to minimise the number ofcompulsory redundancies throughvoluntary turnover and redeployment,and where unavoidable redundanciesoccurred, we provided support to affectedemployees, such as the 1,000 employeeswho joined Swiss Re in October 2007as part of the restructuring of NorwichUnion’s life and pensions operations.

In the second half of 2007, we alsoannounced plans to save £300 million acrossour UK business. Although such savings willbe achieved in a variety of ways, including areduction in marketing spend, a commitmentof this magnitude has meant 140 job losseswithin marketing, and a further 385 rolesgoing from our IT operation.

We take care to manage all unavoidableredundancies as sensitively as we can. Forexample, Aviva USA’s new headquarters inDes Moines, Iowa, required the relocationof approximately 400 positions fromQuincy, Massachusetts. Outgoing staffwere notified in person and givenappropriate support, guidance andfinancial protection, while allcommunication was conducted inan open, honest and timely way.

Health and safety at work

Providing a safe and healthy environmentfor employees, contractors, customers andvisitors remains a priority across the group.Our health and safety committees help toraise awareness of safety issues, identify,assess and reduce risk through regularinspections, and provide ways for potentialviolations to be reported.

We are equally supportive of people’sindividual wellbeing, and promote ‘lifestyleawareness’ topics such as fitness, posture,relaxation, stress management and healthyeating. In many of our business units,company-sponsored Employee AssistanceProgrammes provide staff and their familieswith support, ranging from guidance onparenting, education and finance throughto professional counselling services foremotional and addiction issues.

In several locations, including Australia,employees receive company-fundedvaccinations against influenza, and weoffer seminars at our global headquartersin London to help employees who want tostop smoking. Employees with back pain atAviva Czech Republic can relax on a hydrojet bed during lunch breaks and out of workhours, while Hibernian held ‘Sleep Factor’and ‘Beat the Energy Slump’ workshops.

Looking ahead

We have listed our key initiatives for2008 in this section. Furthermore, wewill continue to support our new andgrowing business units in the effectiveimplementation of our people strategy.

Social activities

At Hibernian, events designedto promote a healthy work–lifebalance included workshops onsleep, relaxation and energylevels, massages and a ‘Bring YourKids to Work at Halloween’ day,while Aviva Group Centre’s well-established social activitiesprogramme included self-defence,language and art classes, city walksand a Christmas pantomime.Aviva Lithuania also fosters anactive lifestyle among employeesand sales representatives, whocompete in regular Olympics-stylecompetitions. This year’s summerevent, held in Poland, sawLithuanian competitors andteams win 11 gold medals.

Aviva plcCorporate Social Responsibility Report 2008Suppliers

24

Working closelywith suppliers

In 2007, Aviva Group Centre hada cleaning team who workedunsociable hours, and wereunknown to our staff. Withsupplier ICS, we switched todaytime cleaning, and introducedhousekeepers to staff, both inperson, and through a postercampaign. The move to daytimecleaning has been a success forall involved; housekeepers enjoybetter working conditions andstaff turnover has dropped.Working relationships haveimproved, as has the service,resulting in a reduction in costs.

Aviva UK’s operational serviceshas also worked closely withits catering services supplierAvenance to implement a numberof initiatives to minimise waste.These include:

• compostable paper napkinsmade from non-bleachedrecycled material

• recycling cardboard, tins, milkbottle tops and coffee groundsfor garden compost

• using refillable sugar shakersinstead of paper sachets

• biodegradable plastic cutlery,sandwich boxes and labels

• switching as much packagingas possible to biodegradablecorn starch.

One Aviva. Diverse suppliers.Suppliers

“ Avenance is proactivelyresponding to changes in themarket, particularly regardingincreasing environmental concerns.We are keen to work as partnersto share ideas, trial new productsand ultimately lighten ourenvironmental footprint.”

Viv Shinner, operations manager,Avenance

We are clear and consistent with our suppliers about whatwe expect of them and what they can expect of us.


www.aviva.com/csr08/suppliers


Suppliers

25

We understand that our suppliers playan important role in ensuring that wecontinue to meet the needs of ourcustomers. The embedding of CSR in ourgroup purchasing and supply managementpolicy means that we have identifiedbenchmarks and expectations on eachprocurement activity and can influenceour large supplier base to continue tomeet our standards.

CSR in supply management

Our group policy on purchasing and supplymanagement, revised in December 2007,now requires all Aviva suppliers to sign theAviva Supplier Code of Conduct, eitherupon appointment or contract renewal.The Code has been used to cover in excessof £1.1 billion of procurement activityduring 2007. Our top 200 suppliers arebeing assessed against a series of questionsdesigned to measure their commitment toCSR, and each Aviva business mustestablish a CSR performance improvementplan for its top five suppliers. All sourcingdecisions must now give CSR aspects aminimum 10% weighting, while humanrights questions also form part of oursupplier review and tender process.

To raise the profile of CSR in our sectorand help to develop industry standardsand common approaches, Aviva plays aleading role in the Chartered Institute ofPurchasing and Supply’s Financial ServicesPurchasing Forum (FSPF), with DavidAllcock of Aviva UK Procurement as thecurrent vice chair. The FSPF hosts a CSRsub-group, also chaired by David, whichhas grown from four to 30 major financialservices organisations in 18 months. Theaim of the group is to drive a standardapproach to the management of CSRissues in the financial services sector.

Responsible purchasing

Aviva remains committed to buildingsustainable relationships with suppliersand promoting environmental and ethicalbest practice. Where possible, we selectsuppliers that comply with ethical and

environmental best practice, taking intoaccount both cost and quality, with prioritygiven to those with ISO 9001 or similarcertification standards.

Examples include:

• Morley’s vending machine supplier,

which buys coffee directly from the

growers in Colombia, and Delta Lloyd,

which now sources Good Origin coffee

produced in a sustainable manner

• Hibernian’s storage provider, which started

a scanning service to reduce the amount

of paper documentation kept on-site

• Aviva France’s contractor for recycling

used ink cartridges, which helped head

office to recycle 92% of its waste last year

• Knight Frank, the property manager

at our Melbourne office, which made

alterations to heating and cooling

systems to improve energy efficiency.

Supporting our suppliers

Sustainable supplier relationships aretwo-way partnerships, so we aim to givesupport, guidance and training for thirdparties where appropriate. For example,in India, all the cab drivers used byAviva Global Services (AGS) attendregular training forums designed to raiseawareness about road safety, and help toimprove interaction with AGS employees.

We also understand our responsibilitiesto our suppliers, such as prompt payment.Morley’s ‘Business Invoice Viewer’, forexample, provides real-time updates onall supplier invoices, promoting promptauthorisation and helping to meet thechallenging target of paying 85–90%of suppliers within 28 days of receivingan invoice.

Looking ahead

Our focus in 2008 will be towardsimplementing our new purchasingand supply management policy, aswell as establishing and reportingon key metrics across the group.

Fairtrade Fortnight

Aviva kicked off the FairtradeFortnight in February with abreakfast at Aviva globalheadquarters for City professionals,suppliers and representatives fromthe City of London Corporation,the Fairtrade Foundation and theFairtrade steering group, establishedto promote fair trade within theSquare Mile and across London.Guests heard from Erica Kyere, afarmer from a cooperative in Ghana,who highlighted the impact that theprice guarantees from Fairtradepartnerships can make. During thesame two weeks, Caron Services,a family-run vending machinebusiness, supported Aviva France byrunning a promotion at its headoffice, as well as providing a coffeemachine, Fairtrade coffee and snacksfor a Telethon event.

Stationary stationery

First 2 Office, Aviva’s stationerysupplier, challenged eight Master’sstudents at London’s Royal Collegeof Art to create sculptures fromunwanted stationery donated bycustomers including Aviva. In just twodays, 84 pallets of unwanted supplieswere collected, of which 62 wererecycled, 11 were donated to charityand 11 were turned into sculpturesfor The Office Stationery AmnestyArts Award. As part of the LondonSustainability Festival, Aviva exhibitedthe winning pieces in the Avivaglobal headquarters main reception.

We are a responsible corporate citizen and take accountof the impacts our activities have on the communitieswhere we operate.

Aviva plcCorporate Social Responsibility Report 2008Communities

26

Going further for localcommunities

At Aviva, we look back withpride at our record of communityinvolvement, recognising thehuge part our employees haveplayed in helping us to translatecommitment into action. Justone of many examples saw AvivaCanada volunteers run a CarefulTeddy Tent at an event in aid ofa children’s hospital in Winnipeg,Manitoba, to convey theimportance of wearing correctlyfitted helmets when cycling.Attended by more than 55,000people, our volunteers helped tofit and distribute free helmets andhanded out stickers and leaflets.

Employees in North Americahave long given their timeand effort to fundraising andcommunity projects.

While many of our businesseshave formal policies to supportemployees who want to volunteer,we’re looking to take thisfurther by consolidating all ourapproaches under a comprehensivecommunity investment strategy.

One Aviva. Communities in27 countries.Communities


www.aviva.com/csr08/communities


Communities

27

We are committed to good corporatecitizenship, and invest in a programmeof charity and community initiatives thatsupport a range of stakeholders. Ouremployees around the world demonstrateimmense commitment and enthusiasmfor the support of their communities.

Investing in our communities

In 2007, we donated £6.75 million tocharitable and community activitiesworldwide, an 8% increase over 2006.Until now, decisions about how andwhere to help have been made at alocal level by individual businesses.

To make it easier for employees to giveto causes they care about, some of ourbusinesses offer company-matched givingschemes, which double the money theyraise. We also enable UK employees todonate money, in a tax-efficient way, directlyfrom their monthly salary. To raise awarenessof our payroll giving schemes, the Hands onHelping charity visited some of our UK sites.On average, take-up increased by 6%, butamong Aviva UK staff, scheme participationrose by 32%, with 1,700 employees nowsupporting 500 charities.

Last year, the Aviva Charitable Foundationwas born out of the AmerUs GroupCharitable Foundation, following Aviva’sUS acquisition. One organisation to benefitis United Way, an independent body thatencourages individual and corporate givingand volunteerism to help others. AvivaRomania also started a partnership withUnited Way in 2007, and within a month,almost one in three employees (32%) hadcommitted to regular monthly deductionsfrom their salary.

Employee volunteering

We continue to promote employeevolunteering as a way our people canbecome engaged with their local

communities and help good causes. Ourcommitment has resulted in formal policiesin many of our businesses, and from 2008,employees will be able to take up to threepaid days for volunteer work. In Ireland,for instance, Hibernian has committedto providing 10,000 hours of staffvolunteering annually.

National education projects

Norwich Union delivered more than 32,000hours of volunteering last year across anarray of community projects, including twonational education schemes on climatechange and financial literacy.

• Climate Change Champions Fifty-one

employee volunteers have now helped

more than 250 students, aged 5 to 16,

from 29 schools in York, Norwich and

Perth to learn more about climate change.

Through the programme, schools aim

to reduce their carbon footprint by 20%

and engage the whole community by

requesting individual pledges to support

the campaign.

• ‘Paying For It’ The site also contains

‘Lifescan’, a unique tool that provides a

graphic representation of an individual’s

position on the areas covered in the

‘Paying For It’ curriculum. This ‘widget’

will be downloadable to Facebook and

MySpace pages, giving people a chance

to identify and compare themselves.

The changes registered over the life of

the project will also give individuals a

chance to see how their views have

changed and give us an overview of

the impact the programme has had.

The ‘CommunEcate’ programme has alsoseen 280 employees deliver 2,661 hours ofvoluntary e-mentoring for students on theBTEC Communications in Business course.

Baltic coast clean-up

A year after Aviva Lithuaniavolunteers first assisted with theclean-up of a section of the Balticcoastline after a fire destroyed 200hectares of forest, staff and salesconsultants again helped localgovernment and forestry managersby rebuilding the dunes, andplanting a hectare of pine saplings.A new scheme also enables themto donate 2% of their income taxto the National Park’s relief fund.

bluecycle’s recycle schemes

bluecycle, a subsidiary of NorwichUnion, has donated a range ofitems to help community projects,including IT equipment to Oxfamand Age Concern, a car toFelixstowe Port in Suffolk so thatofficers preventing the export ofstolen cars can cover the wholesite efficiently, and scrap vehiclesto The Motor Insurance RepairResearch Centre for use inAutomotive TechnicianAccreditation tests.

“ Investing in the communities inwhich we operate is a key part ofour CSR programme. In addition tothe company’s support, we alsoencourage our employees to getinvolved, for example, throughvolunteering or fundraisingactivities, which the companyfund-matches.”

Michelle Wolfe, group seniorCSR manager

Aviva plcCorporate Social Responsibility Report 2008Communities

28

Giving young people a better start

Investing in education and developmentprojects around the world is another visibleway we give back to our communities. InIndia, we work closely with an NGO, theArpana Trust, to help families camped inthe resettlement area of Molarbund, NewDelhi. Parents could not afford to sendtheir children to school, so facilities wereset up to give children aged under five aneducation and a free midday meal.

Elsewhere, Morley raised more than £13,000for Hope and Homes for Children, a charityworking with orphaned, abandoned andvulnerable children in Eastern Europe andAfrica, while the OPEN Road project inNorwich, supported by RAC and BritishSchool of Motoring, educates young peopleabout road safety, motoring and mechanics.In Ireland, Hibernian has donated €10,000towards an on-site day care centre forthe elderly.

Health and social welfare

Last year, we maintained our supportfor a range of health and wellbeinginitiatives around the world. Just a feware outlined below.

• In Sri Lanka, Eagle Insurance launched its

inaugural Samana workshop for teachers

and carers of disabled children.

• In February, Aviva Canada began a

two-year partnership with ThinkFirst

Canada, a national, non-profit

organisation working to prevent brain

and spinal cord injuries in young people.

Awareness-raising events included

helmet-fitting clinics in sports

departments at a leading retail chain.

• Aviva Canada employees also

participated in a two-day, 60-kilometre

walk for the 2007 Weekend to End

Breast Cancer. With company support,

38 employees raised more than C$80,000

towards the national total of C$48 million,

which will help to fund cancer treatment,

education and prevention.

• Throughout 2007, 42 Norwich Union

employees volunteered at regional

WheelPower events and at the National

Junior Wheelchair Games.

• Aviva Italy supports Dynamo Camp, which

offers free summer camps to children

with serious or chronic illnesses who are

currently in therapy or convalescing.

• As a member of the Oxfam 365 Alliance,

our funding continues to help to ensure

that Oxfam is ready to respond

immediately to emergencies such as the

hurricanes in Central America and the

Caribbean, severe flooding in Asia, and

the ongoing crises in Darfur and Chad.

External recognition

Business in the Community highlycommended Aviva with its 2007Community Impact Award for ourparticipation in the London ‘BetterTogether Day’ in June, in which childrenfrom local schools experienced a cityestablishment for themselves. Managementin our London office took part in a Q&Asession, while other staff helped toovercome clichéd perceptions of acareer in financial services.

In Hong Kong, we retained the CaringCompany designation from the Hong KongCouncil of Social Services, which we haveheld since 2004 in recognition of ourcharity and community programmes, andNorwich Union came second in the ‘BestEmployee Team Event’ category of theCommunity Service Volunteer Awards for‘Make a Difference Day’, when volunteersfrom around the UK hosted a sports dayfor children with severe learning difficultiesand behavioural disorders.

Looking ahead

In 2008, our challenge is to align all ourefforts to our new global communityinvestment strategy, helping us to channelfinancial and organisational support toareas where we have real expertise to offer.We will focus on financial education andliteracy, and coping with life trauma(i.e. people going through a distressinglife event) which are in line with our‘prosperity and peace of mind’ vision.

Big smiles, warm clothing

Aviva USA volunteers donatedcoats, boots, gloves and hatsto underprivileged students atMcKinley Elementary School inDes Moines as part of the annual‘Coats and Boots’ programme,funded by the Aviva CharitableFoundation. Many of thestudents are from low-incomehouseholds and come fromwarmer climates such as SouthAmerica and South Africa.

First class

Aviva Global Services (AGS)supports several charities in Indiaand Sri Lanka, including a long-term partnership with AkankshaFoundation, an NGO that helpsless-privileged children toimprove their lives througheducation. In August, the first offour ‘Aviva Akanksha’ schoolsopened in Pune, India. AGS alsosponsored a sports day for 750children from nine Akankshacentres, with 20 volunteershelping on the day.

“The gift of winter coats and bootsto our children helped to completetheir needs and extended the spiritof giving to families who otherwisewould have felt less cheerful.”

Dr Lorenzo Jasso, principal,McKinley Elementary School



29

Corporate Citizenship was commissionedto provide assurance of Aviva’s summaryCSR report for the year ended 31 December2007. Corporate Citizenship is amanagement consultancy specialising incorporate social responsibility. FormerlyThe SMART Company, it was renamedafter it came together with another leadingconsultancy in January 2008. The SMARTCompany conducted the assurance ofAviva’s 2006 CSR report and consistentapproaches have been applied this year bypersonnel from the original project team.

This statement is addressed to themanagement of Aviva plc and is notintended for use by third parties. Ourapproach to the review was informed bythe principles of the AA1000 AssuranceStandard which, beyond assessing thereliability of information within the report,means that we considered whether thereport gives a complete picture of Aviva’smaterial CSR issues and whether Aviva isresponding to stakeholder concerns.

Scope and assurance process

This assurance covers this, Aviva’s printedsummary CSR report. The assurance workcomprised interviews with key executives,including the Chairman, Lord Sharman,and a review of relevant supportingdocumentation in order to supportstatements made in the report. Ourassessment of the data collection processfor carbon emissions consisted of a reviewof data trends and investigation into anylarge/unusual movements, and an appraisalof the appropriateness of any assumptions/estimates used in data calculation.

Commentary

The report highlights that Aviva hasmade significant progress in developingits approaches to CSR. We wereparticularly pleased to learn of thefollowing developments:

• Strategy: The new ‘One Aviva, twice

the value’ vision links more closely to

the CSR strategy; the community

engagement strategy has a clearer focus,

better aligned to the nature of Aviva’s

business; and the environment strategy

has been revised to recognise the

importance of climate change.

• Embedding CSR: This year’s report

gives more information about how

the company is promoting responsible

business behaviour and wellbeing among

its customers through its products and

services; embedding CSR in the business

has been furthered by incorporation

of CSR considerations in the Group

Purchasing and Supply Management

Policy; and following the success of the

’Respect Diversity’ toolkit for employees,

a ‘CSR toolkit’ has been developed.

• Indicators: During the year, Aviva set

Group CSR key performance indicators

(KPIs). This is an important step forward

in Aviva’s commitment to being a

responsible business; it should ensure

that its performance against the Group

KPIs is consistently reported year-on-year

to demonstrate that progress is being

monitored, and performance targets

should be set for every KPI.

Looking ahead

To further develop its CSR programme andreporting, we suggest the following areasof focus for Aviva over the coming year:

• Data collection: Group-wide data

collection and reporting is currently a

manual process; data integrity could

be enhanced by the introduction of

an automated process.

• Balanced reporting: Future reports

should continue to highlight risks and

opportunities affecting the business,

and challenges as well as successes.

The discussion of climate change is

an example of how such risks and

opportunities can be addressed

within a report.

• Outcomes and impacts: This year’s report

mentions a number of positive initiatives

from across the Group, citing some clear

outcomes. Future reports would be

enhanced if Aviva included more on

the outcomes and impacts of initiatives,

as well as inputs.

• Context: More could be done to set

the reported information within greater

context. For example, regarding the

responsible products, it would be

valuable for readers to understand the

percentage of the total product portfolio

these represent.

Conclusion

In our opinion this report provides abalanced summary of the CSR performanceof Aviva. We welcome the steps that Avivais taking to embed and enhance its CSRprogramme and look forward to readingof further progress, set against consistentindicators, in future reports. Our detailedfeedback and recommendations for CSRperformance improvement have beencommunicated to Aviva through ourmanagement report.

Corporate Citizenship

London, 31 March 2008

Information on our competencies,independence and impartiality is availableon our website:

www.corporate-citizenship.com/what-we-do/assurance/


Aviva is committed to annual external assurance. This year’s external assuranceof our CSR summary report is provided by Corporate Citizenship.

Contact us

If you have any comments or queriesabout this report, please contact:

Louella EastmanGroup CSR director

Aviva plcSt Helen’s, 1 UndershaftLondon EC3P 3DQUnited Kingdom

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7283 2000Email: [email protected]

This printed summary is available onlineat www.aviva.com/csr08, along with ourCSR policy and other related policies.We also provide regional reports forall operations worldwide.

Credits

Design, copywriting and production byFlag (www.flag.co.uk).Board photography by Marcus Ginns.CSR team photography by Arun Nangla.

The text and cover of this report isprinted on Greencoat 55 Silk. Greencoat55 Silk is made from 55% recycled post-consumer fibre using non-toxic, harmlessde-inking residues. The paper containsfibres sourced from responsibly managedand sustainable forests, together withrecycled fibre, certified in accordancewith the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council).

Certno.SA-COC-1487

Aviva plc - Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2008...corporate social responsibility (CSR)...

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