Our approach to environmental sustainability is governed by our environmental and sustainability policies. We recognise that responsible management of the environment and use of scarce natural resources is key to the sustainability and wellness of our business, clients, employees and communities. We have adopted a precautionary approach to environmental management and comply with all applicable environmental legislation and regulations.
We have a responsibility to reduce our impact on the environment and to encourage our employees to reduce their impact on the environment too. We also have a responsibility as an investor to apply responsible investment practices across our savings and investment products. We are a signatory to the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investing (UNPRI) and members of several international and South African codes and bodies.
Our responsible investment team has a proactive approach to environmental issues with the aim of managing and mitigating events before they escalate. They engage with the management of listed companies in which they are invested throughout the year to raise and resolve any concerns they may have with regard to environmental matters. Momentum Group was the first South African company to sign the Just Transition Global Investor Statement, which commits us to ensuring that as we transition to a low carbon economy there is also a just transition for workers and communities. In July 2021, we also became a formal supporter of the Taskforce on Climate Related Disclosure (TCFD) and published our first report in 2021.
Responsibility for environmental management lies with the Social, Ethics and Transformation Committee of the board (SETC). Quarterly reports are submitted to the SETC. Climate risk related issues are overseen by the Board Risk and Compliance Committee; and SETC report to the board which is responsible for the end-to-end process of risk management and for the assessment of its effectiveness. No environmental-related fines were received in the period under review.
Momentum Group was appointed co-mandated lead arranger and lender to three Koruson 1 projects. This entails constructing three wind farms with 420 MW installed capacity, 26 wind turbines on each and a total capital investment of R11 billion in South Africa. The low-carbon renewable electricity produced will help meet the electricity needs of approximately 193 000 households. It will provide more than 590 full-time jobs for South Africans during the two-year construction period. During the 20-year operation period, 50 full-time jobs will be created. Approximately 40% of the project value will comprise local content and 1.2% of revenue generated by the projects will be applied to local community development. This transaction won the Renewable Energy Deal of the Year at the 2023 Bonds, Loans and ESG Capital Markets Africa Conference. It supports the Group’s efforts to contribute to a Just Transition by ensuring local communities benefit from investments in renewables.
As leaders in the insurance industry we are committed to doing our part to implement best practices and new technologies to reduce our environmental footprint. For more detail on our commitment, refer to our climate change positioning statement and our climate change investment policy. Environmental responsibility is a concern that we are addressing as part of our sustainability efforts. We are making concerted efforts to enhance our sustainability efforts so that we can make our contribution to lower the risks posed by global climate change. We have invested in new technology and equipment in order to enhance our progress in reducing emissions, fuel consumption, water and energy usage and other metrics by which we measure our improvements.
Climate change risks and opportunities are integrated into the multi-disciplinary company-wide risk management processes. We include climate change risks and opportunities in the Momentum Group CDP submission. The following risk areas are assessed and included in the CDP submission.
Momentum Group Limited participates in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) process every year. CDP is the global disclosure system where we disclose our carbon emissions, risks, and opportunities we face in terms of climate change, as well as provide details and trend data relating to our carbon footprint. For full details, please see the publicly available Momentum Group Limited submission on the CDP website. Momentum Group achieved a B rating in the 2023 CDP results for environmental impact management.
Click here to find out more about Momentum Group’s CDP submission
Our carbon footprint enables us to track and monitor our Group's environmental impact and the effectiveness of any emission, energy, and water reduction initiatives. Momentum Group’s total emissions have decreased compared to prior years. The decrease is mainly due to the various efficiency initiatives implemented in recent years for water, paper and electricity usage. However, a significant increase in stationary fuel emissions were seen due to higher levels of load shedding (national power cuts).
In 2018, we set a target to achieve a 25% reduction in our Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, compared to a 2014 baseline. In the 2021 calendar year, we achieved a 27% reduction (2020: 26.20%) in our Scope 1 and 2 emissions, thus exceeding our target. However, we are committed to setting new targets for the Group, to help drive our decarbonisation journey.
Our carbon footprint is verified by an external carbon emissions verification agency every year.
Click here to view our latest verification statement
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