MAPFRE reduces its global carbon footprint by 26% through the use of renewables and sustainable mobility

MAPFRE has exceeded all the targets it had set itself to reduce the carbon footprint generated by its activities. The insurance company has decreased its overall carbon footprint by 26% compared to 2019, which is 22.5 points above the target set for 2022 (3.5%).

This decrease is due to the Group’s efforts to continue moving towards the decarbonization of the economy, not only through investing and underwriting, but also through measures to reduce the footprint of its direct operations. These include the restriction of fossil fuels and electricity, the use of renewable energy sources such as solar energy, the replacement of its fleet of conventional vehicles with hybrid or electric vehicles, and the reduction of business travel and employee commuting to work.

The results reflect MAPFRE’s strong commitment to sustainability and the fight against climate change, with public objectives such as reducing the Group’s operational carbon footprint by 50% by 2030 (compared to 2019) and becoming a neutral company in all countries by 2030. These challenges demand awareness of its current footprint and identifying short, medium and long-term strategies to reduce it and offset the part that cannot be eliminated. 

Less fossil fuels

In 2022, the Group acquired 65% of its electricity with 100% renewable origin guarantee certificates owing to the green electricity purchase contracts currently in place in countries such as Spain, Germany and Paraguay (100%), Portugal (99%), Brazil (70%) and Italy (50%). This means that all of them are making greater use of clean energies and require less burning of fossil fuels in the generation of such electricity. In this regard, it is worth noting that the company has committed itself to ensuring that 100% of its electricity consumption will come from clean energies by 2030. 

The company has also reduced its carbon footprint, mainly linked to fuel consumption, by 9%, far exceeding the target of 1.7%, largely due to the progressive replacement of its own fleet of vehicles with conventional combustion engines by hybrid or electric vehicles, which accounted for 15% of vehicles in 2022 and aims to reach 100% by 2030. The use of sustainable heating, which has enabled the company to replace oil and natural gas boilers with electric heat pumps, has also played a significant role. 

Mobility: less business travel 

The indirect carbon footprint, mainly associated with employee mobility, has also been reduced, specifically by 29% compared to 2019, a figure that far exceeds the target set (3.5% for this year) and which signals significant progress in this regard, since both business travel and commuting account for more than 65% of total emissions.

This decrease has been influenced by the company’s recently approved new travel policy, which aims to eliminate unnecessary travel and encourage the use of sustainable transport, such as the use of high-speed rail instead of air travel. Both measures have contributed to a 68% reduction in the carbon footprint from business travel in 2022 compared to 2019, significantly exceeding the planned target of 2% by 2022. The countries that have reduced it the most are Honduras (97%), Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela (96%), Panama (95%), Chile (93%), Colombia (91%) and the US, El Salvador and Guatemala (89%).

Owing to the gradual and permanent implementation of hybrid work models (on-site and remote) in the Group in 2022, the carbon footprint of commuting in the year decreased by 14% compared to 2019, a figure that also exceeds the 4% target set for 2022. 

12% less energy

In 2022, the MAPFRE Group’s energy consumption, linked to the energy consumption of buildings and the vehicle fleet, decreased by 12% compared to 2019, far exceeding the 2022 target of 3%. This decrease was due to the implementation of hybrid work models, the optimization of workspaces, investment in energy efficiency, and upgrading of automobile fleets to more efficient ECO engines. The countries that have contributed most to this reduction are Guatemala (61%), Turkey and Brazil (46%), Ecuador (41%), Chile (34%), El Salvador (29%) and Colombia (28%).

More solar panels

Electricity consumption currently accounts for more than 70% of the Group’s energy consumption. In 2022, total purchased electricity decreased by 16 GWh, which is 14% less than in 2019. The countries that have made the greatest contribution to reducing electricity consumption are Turkey (49%) and Brazil (43%), Chile (39%), Colombia (33%), Ecuador (32%), the US (30%) and El Salvador (30%). 

Noteworthy was the impact of the installation of solar panels in Spain, with 4,700 photovoltaic panels, which has allowed for an annual reduction of 3 GWh at the company’s headquarters. In addition to the generation of solar energy in Spain, countries such as Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Italy followed suit in 2022, and they are now generating 0.2 GWh between the three of them.