MetLife is First U.S. Insurer to Adopt Carbon Neutrality
November 10 2015 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) said today that it will achieve carbon
neutrality by the end of 2016, becoming the first U.S.-based
insurer to do so.
Significantly, MetLife will achieve its goal through real
reductions in energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, not
simply through the purchase of carbon offsets. In addition, MetLife
will require its top suppliers to publicly disclose their GHG
emissions and mitigation efforts for the first time.
“MetLife has a long history of promoting a healthy environment
for our customers, their families and the communities that we
serve, and these new environmental goals are an expansion of our
commitment,” said Marty Lippert, MetLife executive vice president
and head of Global Technology and Operations.
MetLife’s new commitments are:
- Become carbon neutral in 2016 and
going forward. This goal applies to GHG emissions from all of
MetLife’s owned and leased properties across the world, as well as
its fleet of automobiles in the Auto & Home business line
(Scope 1 and 2)*. The goal also applies to the company’s employee
business travel (Scope 3)†. MetLife will achieve carbon neutrality
through continued implementation of energy efficiency measures
across its portfolio, increased use of collaboration tools to
reduce employee business travel and investment in carbon offsets
for the remainder of its GHG emissions.
- By 2020, reduce all energy
consumption by 10 percent from a 2012 baseline. This applies to
the company’s global office portfolio, including company-owned and
leased facilities. These reductions will be achieved through a
combination of capital improvement projects and facility upgrades
across offices around the world, such as lighting retrofits,
chiller and boiler replacements, efficient HVAC systems, demand
metering, occupancy-sensor installations and other projects.
- By 2020, reduce location-based
greenhouse gas emissions (metric tons of CO2
equivalent) by 10 percent from a 2012 baseline. This 10
percent reduction applies to MetLife’s global owned and leased
offices, the Auto & Home business automobile fleet, and
business travel. These reductions will be achieved through various
emissions reduction strategies, including energy efficiency capital
projects, the integration of sustainability best practices into new
MetLife workspaces, and the increased use of collaboration tools to
offset employee travel. These reductions will not be achieved
through the purchase of green energy or carbon offsets.
- By 2020, require 100 of MetLife’s
top suppliers to publicly disclose their GHG emissions and
emission-reduction activities. As a financial services company,
MetLife’s supply chain represents a significant portion of its
environmental impact, so it is important to engage key suppliers
and encourage reduction of their own GHG emissions.
“We commend MetLife for their commitment to environmental
stewardship,” said Lance Pierce, president, CDP North America, an
international not-for-profit organization that collects data for
companies and cities to measure, disclose, manage and share vital
environmental information. “We look forward to seeing them exercise
leadership on climate change issues and to charting their progress
in future CDP disclosures.”
“We are proud to announce environmental goals that address our
global operations across nearly 50 countries,” said Joe Sprouls,
MetLife executive vice president and head of Global Corporate
Services. “As a company with a large global real estate portfolio,
MetLife works hard to reduce energy consumption and optimize our
buildings’ environmental performance.”
MetLife’s new commitments build on previously implemented
efforts to reduce its environmental impact. Examples include:
- Green Facilities: Since 2005, MetLife
has reduced energy consumption across our U.S.-owned offices by 25
percent as a result of facility upgrades and capital improvement
projects. In addition, 100 percent of MetLife’s owned and managed
offices in the U.S. are certified under the Energy Star commercial
buildings program and more than 50 percent are LEED®-certified.
MetLife has a total of 17 LEED-certified buildings globally.
- Green Investments: MetLife now holds
equity stakes in 46 LEED-certified properties as part of its
strategy to make significant investments in sustainability and
green building practices. Since 2003, MetLife has invested $2.9
billion in renewable energy projects and now has ownership stakes
in more than 25 wind and solar farms that produce enough clean
energy to power 1 million homes.
- Responsible Sourcing: MetLife practices
environmentally responsible sourcing by purchasing green products
and incorporating sustainability criteria in vendor sourcing and
management processes. MetLife is a member of the Carbon Disclosure
Project (CDP) Supply Chain Program and uses this program to
encourage suppliers to take climate action.
- Employee Engagement: The company
actively engages associates through “Our Green Impact,” a program
that encourages employees to participate in MetLife’s
sustainability programs and to reduce their environmental impact at
work, home and in communities around the world.
MetLife is also on target to achieve or exceed prior U.S.-based
environmental goals set by the company for its U.S. owned and
managed office portfolio.
For more information on MetLife’s commitment to the environment
and other corporate responsibility activities, visit
www.metlifeglobalimpact.com.
About MetLife
MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and
affiliates (“MetLife”), is one of the largest life insurance
companies in the world. Founded in 1868, MetLife is a global
provider of life insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset
management. Serving approximately 100 million customers, MetLife
has operations in nearly 50 countries and holds leading market
positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe
and the Middle East. For more information, visit
www.metlife.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain or incorporate by reference
information that includes or is based upon forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements give expectations or
forecasts of future events. These statements can be identified by
the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current
facts. They use words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,”
“project,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe” and other words and terms of
similar meaning, or are tied to future periods, in connection with
a discussion of future operating or financial performance. In
particular, these include statements relating to future actions,
prospective services or products, future performance or results of
current and anticipated services or products, sales efforts,
expenses, the outcome of contingencies such as legal proceedings,
trends in operations and financial results.
Any or all forward-looking statements may turn out to be wrong.
They can be affected by inaccurate assumptions or by known or
unknown risks and uncertainties. Many such factors will be
important in determining the actual future results of MetLife,
Inc., its subsidiaries and affiliates. These statements are based
on current expectations and the current economic environment. They
involve a number of risks and uncertainties that are difficult to
predict. These statements are not guarantees of future performance.
Actual results could differ materially from those expressed or
implied in the forward-looking statements. Risks, uncertainties,
and other factors that might cause such differences include the
risks, uncertainties and other factors identified in MetLife,
Inc.'s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K (the "Annual Report")
filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"),
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed by MetLife, Inc. with the SEC
after the date of the Annual Report under the captions "Note
Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors," and other
filings MetLife, Inc. makes with the SEC. MetLife, Inc. does not
undertake any obligation to publicly correct or update any
forward-looking statement if MetLife, Inc. later becomes aware that
such statement is not likely to be achieved. Please consult any
further disclosures MetLife, Inc. makes on related subjects in
reports to the SEC.
The purpose of this news release is to describe the
environmental goals that MetLife intends to achieve and how the
company intends to achieve those goals.
MetLife is the first U.S.-based insurer to adopt carbon
neutrality based on an analysis of the Carbon Disclosure Project’s
(CDP) database of responses from thousands of organizations
worldwide. CDP’s database can be found at: www.cdp.net.
* Scope 1 emissions are all direct GHG emissions, such as
on-site energy use at owned and leased offices. Scope 2 emissions
are indirect GHG emissions from consumption of purchased
electricity, heat or steam.
† Scope 3 emissions are other indirect emissions, such as
emissions resulting from business travel.
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MetLife, Inc.Jon Richter, 212-578-5370
MetLife (NYSE:MET)
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