Climate change
Climate change is leading to the emergence of climate-related risks throughout the value chain with potentially significant financial implications. This has made climate change a major issue for companies, countries and society in general, from both an economic and a social point of view.
Furthermore, customers, markets and society in general expect large organisations not only to create value, but also to generate positive impacts on society.
The insurance sector is set to play a key role in dealing with climate change, addressing gaps in protection, supporting efforts to adapt and helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through its underwriting and investment activity.
At GCO we support the Paris Agreement and are working to play an active part in the response to climate change through the different roles we can adopt, as insurer, investor, employer and promoter of social initiatives. To do this, we are focusing our strategy on gradually reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and we aim to progressively align our activity with the European target of zero net emissions by 2050, thus contributing to the transition towards a more sustainable future.
To achieve this, we monitor our emissions, both those that we generate directly with our activity and those produced indirectly, and we are working to reduce our carbon footprint. We also support a responsible energy culture by promoting the use of clean energy and including environmental criteria in the construction and purchase of our buildings.
Among our professionals, we promote innovation in low carbon solutions and we encourage efficient practices such as video inspection for damage caused by atmospheric phenomena, thus reducing the emissions associated with travel.
Similarly, convinced that continuous dialogue with our customers is essential to building a sustainable future, we support them in their transition to a low-carbon economy. We hope to achieve this by raising awareness among our customers of the importance of reducing emissions and adopting sustainable practices. We are also working to achieve a more accurate understanding of our customers' sustainability needs to provide appropriate support for their transition and to supply the information they need.
Finally, in line with best practice regarding information, we are incorporating the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) in our reporting process, leading to greater transparency in the communication of financial information related to climate change.
All these commitments are reflected in our Climate Change and Environmental Policy, which constitutes a reference framework and defines the lines of action we will pursue in this area.