Highlights:
- Receipt of carbon-neutral company certification for 2020
- Commitment to reduce our GHG emissions by 20% per employee by 2025
- Commitment to achieve greater gender equity in senior leadership positions by 2025
- Incorporation of ESG criterion into executive compensation
- Use of a recognized ESG disclosure framework
QUEBEC CITY, March 30, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - iA Financial Group announces that its Sustainability Report for 2020 is now available online at ia.ca (https://ia.ca/sustainable-development). This report, released in electronic format only, outlines the company's environmental, social and governance initiatives and achievements for 2020.
The report also describes the various measures implemented by iA Financial Group since the beginning of the COVID–19 pandemic to support its clients, employees and the community. These include relief measures to help clients experiencing financial hardship as a direct result of the pandemic, support measures for our employees, most of whom are teleworking, and donations in the areas of health and community services. The various measures implemented in 2020 amount to over $11.4 million.
Carbon neutrality and reduction of GHGs
On December 13, 2019, iA Financial Group had announced its commitment to offsetting its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through the purchase of carbon credits and therefore becoming carbon neutral as of 2020. This has now been achieved. Carbon-neutral company certification attests that we have calculated and offset all our GHG emissions in 2020 that could not be eliminated by our reduction measures in place.
In 2020, iA Financial Group's GHG emissions totalled 7,836 tons, most of which came from energy consumption in company-owned buildings. In cooperation with Planetair, our partner in the fight against climate change, we have invested nearly $148,000 in projects to plant 16,000 trees in Quebec, preserve 7,900 hectares of rainforest in British Columbia and design a 75-turbine wind park in Texas.
We have adopted a comprehensive approach that includes not only offsetting our GHG emissions, but also—and most importantly—reducing them at the source. In this regard, iA Financial Group is committed to reducing its GHG emissions by 20% per employee by 2025, using 2019 as our baseline when the company's GHG emissions totalled 11,781 tons.
Diversity and inclusion
iA Financial Group has always encouraged diversity and inclusion and recognized their contribution to innovation and growth. We actively endeavour to build a diversified team that represents the communities we serve.
In 2021, iA Financial Group launched a vast internal initiative focused on diversity and inclusion, which includes meeting the targets for the representation of women in the company's senior leadership positions.
Our targets are the following:
- Achieve greater gender equity in iA Financial Group senior leadership positions, with both women and men holding 40% to 60% of senior leadership positions by 2025 (women currently hold 25% of these positions).
- Now and in the future, appoint women to 40% to 60% of iA Financial Group senior leadership positions.
For other types of diversity, a working group has defined the following action plans for 2021:
- Increase our employees' awareness of the importance of diversity and inclusion.
- Collect data and analyze the composition of our workforce, with the help of an external firm specializing in diversity and inclusion.
- Implement training throughout iA Financial Group on unconscious bias and how to break or eliminate this bias.
ESG criterion in executive compensation
At our 2019 Annual Meeting, shareholders asked us to consider incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into executive compensation.
On January 1, 2021, iA Financial Group introduced an ESG component into the variable compensation of senior executives, that is, in the calculation of their annual bonus. This ESG component is the Net Promoter Score (NPS), a unit of measurement that takes into account client satisfaction and is perfectly aligned with the company's purpose, which is for our clients to be confident and secure about their future.
Globally recognized ESG disclosure framework
In 2020, we took an important step in our sustainability strategy by selecting a framework to guide our disclosure in the Sustainability Report. The framework we have selected is the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) framework.
Adopting this robust, recognized framework will help us identify, measure and manage relevant sustainability information and communicate that information more effectively to our stakeholders.
About iA Financial Group
iA Financial Group is one of the largest insurance and wealth management groups in Canada, with operations in the United States. Founded in 1892, it is an important Canadian public company and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbols IAG (common shares) and IAF (preferred shares).
iA Financial Group is a business name and trademark of iA Financial Corporation Inc. and Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. |
SOURCE iA Financial Group
Public Relations: Pierre Picard, Office phone: 418-684-5000, ext. 101660, Email: [email protected], ia.ca
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