Acting on climate change

The first major insurer worldwide to aim for Net Zero carbon by 2040

Our climate ambition

The climate crisis is the greatest threat facing our planet. Taking action now is the best thing we can do for our customers, business, shareholders and future.

Our ambition is to:

  • Become a Net Zero company by 2040 1
  • Achieve a 60% reduction in carbon intensity of assets by 2030 1
  • Have Net Zero operations and supply chain

Understand the difference between Net Zero and carbon neutral (PDF 370KB)

Read more in our climate related financial disclosure

Becoming Climate Ready

We want to help the countries we operate in – the UK, Ireland and Canada – become climate ready. So, in 2024 we launched our third Climate-Ready Index. The index measures the G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States) and Ireland because these are some of the richest and most influential in the world, so have a responsibility to lead the way.

The third Climate-Ready Index indicates that:

  • The transition to a more climate-ready world is underway across the G7 and Ireland – all countries bar Canada have improved on their overall scores in 2024.
  • Businesses are taking more climate-ready actions than they were 12 months ago.
  • People are taking simple everyday climate-friendly actions but need support to make bigger lifestyle changes.

Overall progress across the Index is encouraging, but there is still more to do – countries need to go further and faster to ensure they are reducing their emissions in line with the 1.5 degrees Paris Agreement and taking action to adapt to already very visible climate change impacts.

 
Discover our Climate-Ready Index
father and son on bicycles

Aviva has a strong record in promoting sustainability

The scope and scale of the environmental crisis facing all of us means we have to do more. Which is why we were the first major insurer and UK financial services company to aim for Net Zero by 20401.

In 2023, we continued our work to align our business to a 1.5ºC Paris ambition. The initial iteration of our Climate Transition Plan, was published in March 2022 to outline our pathway towards Net Zero 2040. This provided information on our climate ambitions and how we could address climate risks and opportunities. We are using the UK’s Transition Plan Taskforce framework to inform the development of our transition plans further. We regularly review our transition activities towards our ambition and expect to publish the next iteration of our Transition Plan by 2025. This will take into account the latest view of methodology and data quality.

Quantifying the impact of climate change is an emerging practice. We have made several methodology improvements in 2023 and will continue to enhance our capabilities in line with industry developments and standards. In December 2022, Aviva became the first international composite insurer to have carbon-reduction goals validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)². Aviva also shared its first Biodiversity report, providing a progress update one year on from launching its Biodiversity Policy.

While we are working towards our sustainability ambition, we acknowledge that when it comes to decarbonising the economy in which we operate and invest, Aviva is one part of a far larger global ecosystem. There are limits to our ability to influence other organisations and governments. Nevertheless, we remain focused on the task and are committed to playing our part in the collective effort to enable the global transition.

Sustainable finance

At Aviva we’re incredibly proud to be promoting the vital reorientation of capital away from short-term thinking and towards more sustainable financial markets. To make these changes we need a globally coordinated strategy and response.

 

Changing the financial system

Our partnerships

Aviva and WWF

We know we can’t solve the climate crisis alone. That’s why we’re partnering with WWF, the world’s leading conservation organisation, who share our belief that now is the time to take urgent action on climate change to help create a better tomorrow for both people and planet. 

Find out more

Our people

Our people tackling climate change together

Climate action across Aviva's people. 

Find out more

Sustainability news

1 This will cover shareholder and policyholder assets where we have control and data; and the main asset classes of Aviva’s core markets (credit, equities, direct real estate and sovereign debt). We will be able to expand this further as new data and methodologies become available. For more details please see www.aviva.com/climate-goals

² The SBTi Net-Zero Standard defines corporate Net Zero as: (i) Reducing Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions to zero or to a residual level that is consistent with reaching Net Zero emissions at the global or sector level in eligible 1.5°C-aligned pathways; (ii) Neutralising any residual emissions at the Net Zero target year and any GHG emissions released into the atmosphere thereafter. See Science Based Targets that Aviva has committed to https://sciencebasedtargets.org/resources/files/Target-language-and-summary_Aviva-plc.docx.pdf