Sustainable finance

At Aviva we’re fully aware that our role in fighting climate change goes beyond tackling the emissions of our own investments, operations and underwriting portfolio, therefore we are relentlessly campaigning for change so that the whole financial system works towards a sustainable future. We’re using our influence as a large financial institution to push for positive change that will deliver a more secure and stable future for our customers and their families.

We have a broad network of relationships with our peers and other influencers within industry, and we will leverage our influence to embed best practice, such as science-based Net Zero principles, into standard practice throughout the financial system and those who interact with it commercially, for example through:

• Calling for change from Governments: Governments, regulators and other public bodies hold multiple levers which enable them to set the national economies on the path to Net Zero. Currently, we don’t see all of these bodies acting in harmony to deliver the best results. To address this, we recommend that governments should:
  • Set economy-wide Net Zero targets for 2050 or (ideally) earlier;
  • Commit to putting a price on carbon emissions; and
  • Create incentives to help people, businesses and communities to go green as countries recover from the pandemic (read more on pages 41-43 of our Climate Transition Plan).
• Advocating for reform of the international financial architecture: We believe it is essential to influence the multilateral bodies that establish the global rules and norms for the financial system to better address climate change. We are calling for reform of the international financial architecture, including the creation of an International Platform on Climate Finance or “IPCF”.
• Partnering with WWF to advocate for a sustainable financial system: We’re partnering with WWF to conduct joint advocacy on climate change, biodiversity and other issues of shared interest (for more information see our shared position papers Unlocking finance for nature: learning from experience in driving climate action, A UK Net Zero Investment Plan for Green Growth, Aligning the UK Financial System to Net Zero and Transition Plans for a Net Zero Future).
• Joining and/or leading relevant sectoral initiatives: We were a founding member of the UN-convened Net Zero Insurance Alliance, we are members of the UN-convened Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance and Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative. We are also a member of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) and co-lead their Transition Plans and Policy workstreams. Recent publications include a Framework for Financial Institution Net-Zero Transition Planning and a Call to Action to G20 governments. We are also a part of the UK Government Net Zero Transition Plan Taskforce, co-chaired by Aviva CEO Amanda Blanc, and contributed to their recently launched standard for private sector climate transition plans.
• Bringing together networks of actors across the financial system to address targeted issues: For example, our CEO leads the Women in Finance Climate Action Group, a group of women leaders from across the private finance system – business leaders, policymakers, regulators, NGOs and industry groups – who are seeking to improve gender equality when designing, delivering and accessing climate finance.