2006 Corporate Responsibility Report - Royal and Sun Alliance

Royal & SunAlliance
Corporate Responsibility Report 2006 8
External Relationships
We continue to engage with a range of external ratings
agencies and partners to assess our CR performance.
Participation demonstrates our commitment to improving as
a responsible organisation and becoming a great place to
work. It also provides a framework for open and transparent
reporting on performance and serves as a benchmark against
peers and competitors.
Our performance is monitored externally through our inclusion
in the FTSE4Good Index Series, Vigeo Group and Business in
the Community (BiTC).
We participate in the BiTC Corporate Responsibility Index. This
year, BiTC introduced a new Community Index which forms part
of their "Top 100 Companies that Count", in this first
Community Index, we achieved a rating of 87.7% (silver). In the
overall index, we improved our performance from 76.5%
(bronze) to 89% (silver) and were one of the few companies to
increase our score by more than 10%.
We continue to be rated as “Best in Class” for environmental
and social performance by Storebrand. This rating is based on
analysis of 70 insurance companies listed in the Morgan
Stanley Capital International World Index. R&SA was ranked
within the top 30% of all companies in Storebrand’s survey,
earning us “Best in Class” qualification.
In 2006, we were again recognised as an “ethical choice”
company in the fifth edition of the Good Shopping Guide which
aims to help consumers make informed decisions about ethical
purchasing. Research for the guide is carried out by the Ethical
Consumer Research Association (ECRA) and ratings are
obtained for each company over fifteen specific criteria relating
to environment, animals, people and aspects such as political
donations and codes of conduct.
Forum for the Future
Forum for the Future is the UK’s leading sustainable
development charity, working to build a sustainable way of life.
They work with more than 150 partners including companies,
local authorities and universities, to help them overcome
barriers to more sustainable practice.
partnerships’, with a relationship that is built on the Forum
being a critical friend to the Group. Additionally, R&SA is a part
of the Forum’s scholarship masters programme. As part of the
course, students undergo one-month placements in different
sectors.
External Review by Forum for the Future:
“The sustainable business agenda has witnessed a step change
since R&SA and Forum for the Future first started working as
partners in 1999. The focus has increasingly moved to core
business as the implications of environmental and social issues
for business success become clearer. We are encouraged that
R&SA is starting to increase attention on the integration of
sustainability into the product portfolio, introducing specialised
offerings for both its personal and commercial lines. There is
much more room for innovation across the insurance sector.
We feel that R&SA is well-placed to deliver and look forward to
working together to further embed such issues across its
product range.
The Group has also announced a range of environmental
targets for 2008. We support this important measure to
commit to measurable goals and urge R&SA to aim towards
increasingly stretching targets in the future.”
The Forum for the Future's mission is to show that a sustainable
future is both possible and desirable. It is a Registered Charity
in the UK. The Forum is not an auditor or a verifier. As such
these comments should not be read as verification of data or
information contained within the report.
As one of the Forum’s Corporate Partners, R&SA makes a direct
financial contribution which represents less than 0.25% of the
Forum’s turnover.
Our partnership with them is in its 8th year. Working alongside
the Forum is a two-way process where we engage in ‘challenge