Low Carbon Actions | Towards a Net Zero Future | Low Carbon | Shin Kong Life Sustainability
Low Carbon Actions
Healthy environmental management measures and long-term low carbon actions can bring positive benefits to the environment and towards a sustainable net zero future.Shin Kong Life has been concerned about climate and international carbon emission issues for many years, and has formulated four strategic actions to embed "carbon reduction" deeply in our business philosophy.
Low Carbon Actions
Implementing Greenhouse Gas Inventory
It is incumbent on SKL to protect the environment. To implement environmental management, we adopted environmental management certification operations since 2014, and maintained system operation, including ISO 50001 Energy Management System, ISO 14046 Water Footprint, and ISO 14064-1:2018 Greenhouse Gas (100% coverage, including overseas operations). In 2023, we completed the certification of all of these environmental management systems and obtained third-party verifications.
Improving Energy/Resource Efficiency
Energy Saving Projects |
The primary electricity consumption used by the financial and insurance industry is air-conditioning, lighting and business equipment in office buildings. We aim to improve the efficiency of energy use of electrical equipment through planned upgrades, taking into account the concept of a circular economy, by upgrading old and high energy-consuming equipment, enhancing equipment maintenance and management, actively responding to energy-saving and carbon-reducing campaigns organized by the government or non-governmental organizations, and selecting environmentally friendly and energysaving labeled equipment with a high degree of preference to achieve the goal of electricity saving. Energy Saving Projects in 20231,636,052 Annual Electricity Saving in 2023(MWh)809.8 tCO2e |
Water Consumption |
SKL's water consumption is mainly for office livelihood use, for employees and some consumers. Since the main source is tap water and domestic wastewater is discharged to municipal sewers, there is no significant impact on water sources, and we are committed to minimizing water wastage, with a reduction in water consumption of 5.5% in 2023 compared to last year; in the future, we will continue to plan for a more comprehensive water resource management policy to reduce water consumption. |
Waste Management |
SKL's main source of waste is the domestic waste generated by its employees. SKL has gradually increased the total amount of recycled resources and reduced waste generation by formulating a long-term reduction strategy, encouraging employees to use environmentally friendly tableware, and actively promoting a system of waste reduction and recycling separation. |
Shaping a Green Culture
SKL is actively promoting digital finance and environmental education. We are committed to reducing the consumption of energy and resources through mobilize, cloud-based, electronic, and digital services and tools. We also call on employees and their family members and policyholders to exert their influence and take measures to save energy and reduce carbon emissions at work and in their lives.
Implementing digital office
In response to the advent of the digital age, SKL has introduced technologies to facilitate marketing and management, cut down on paper consumption, and communicate the concept of energy conservation and carbon reduction to customers. In addition, in response to COVID-19 pandemic in the past two years, in order to reduce the risk of exposure, we have also accelerated the development of digital services, which in turn has improved the performance of paper reduction.
Results of Paperless Operations in 2023
Enjoy low carbon and green life
As the COVID-19 pandemic raged in Taiwan, SKL made a huge change in work arrangements in 2022 by adopting online meetings and training programs avoid unnecessary contact. This not only saved our employees from the risk of infection, but reduced the carbon footprint generated from commuting and movement. We are aware that field staff’s travel produces carbon emissions. In this regard, besides using digital services and tools, we are constantly encouraging the field staff to walk or take low carbon transportation such as bicycles to visit policyholders at short range, which can reduce GHG emissions and is also good for their health.
Continuing to promote the idea of "embracing green life and adapting to climate change," SKL has participated in Earth Hour for 15 consecutive years since 2008, hoping to save energy and reduce carbon with concrete actions. As of 2023, SKL has organized the "Light Shirts in Summer" for 17 years. In response to the government's energy saving and carbon reduction policies, we called on male employees to wear shirts without ties and female employees to wear short-sleeved uniforms; in addition, the temperature for air conditioning in office buildings was kept between 26~28°C in the summer per the Bureau of Energy's instructions.
Net Zero Initiative and Action
We support international sustainable development issues, and cooperate with the government's pathway and strategy for achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Besides working with our parent company Shin Kong Financial Holdings and joining the Taiwan Alliance for Net Zero Emission of the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy (TAISE), we also support and promote the Net Zero 2030/2050 Initiative, and formulated carbon reduction goals and implementation strategies for achieving net zero emission by Shin Kong Life Insurance. We plan to replace all lights in locations nationwide with LED before 2030, and gradually improve the energy efficiency of air conditioners. We will use green electricity in our general electricity consumption, and continue to provide training on environmental sustainability, so that employees will change their energy and resource use habits.
Maintain Ecological Sustainability
We have monitored ecological conservation and environmental sustainability for years. Besides sponsoring conservation activities and preparing tools to enrich their behavior, we also promoted ecological conservation and education. For ocean sustainability, we assisted with the training of coral reef inspectors and conducted coral reef examinations. We also organized underwater cleaning activities to clear marine waste, which echoes SDG 13-15.
Constructing Green Buildings
SKL's Commitment to Eco-friendly Buildings
- When planning for future investment or development of new buildings, we will move towards compliance with the Green Building Label Silver or above / or Green Building design to enhance the environmental sustainability of buildings.
- Regenerate old buildings and facilities with various energy-saving measures, cut energy consumption, and improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings to be a responsible citizen for the environment.
Results of green buildings
As part of our commitment to eco-friendly buildings, SKL has been constructing energy-efficient and sustainable buildings that will benefit people living there and the environment in perpetuity.
As of 2023, we had applied for Green Building Labels for 9 buildings, including 6 Green Building Labels (obtained) and 3 candidate for Green Building Labels, and obtained 1 LEED credential. We also expect to apply for Green Building Labels for 6 projects that will start construction in 2023 or are still under planning.
SDGs
