Internal efforts to protect the environment

MMA and Covéa have been taking action to limit their impact on the environment for many years. This entails changing everyday practices, as well as adopting a Low Carbon Pathway as part of the Group’s strategic plan.

Long-term investment in reducing our environmental impact

As a business, Covéa continues to work to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of its French insurance and reinsurance entities (excluding affiliates), with the target of cutting these by 30% by 2030 against a 2019 baseline. It aims to progressively extend this commitment to other Group entities. To achieve this, MMA and Covéa are addressing employee travel, ownership and use of buildings and equipment, and their energy consumption. Measures are also in place to contribute to the development of the circular economy and help protect biodiversity.

Reducing the impact of travel

In the Low Carbon Pathway, MMA and Covéa have made a commitment to reduce the environmental impact associated with employee travel by encouraging environmentally friendly forms of transport and alternatives to cars. For journeys to and from work, the latest actions taken have resulted in:

• The roll-out of remote working to all staff and an increase in the number of remote-working days authorised,
• Measures to motivate colleagues to use more environmentally friendly modes of transport (modal shift), with a cycle and public transport plan, the sustainable mobility allowance, shuttles operating to our central sites in Le Mans and Niort and the creation of infrastructure to support environmentally friendly modes of transport (bicycles, scooters and electric and hybrid cars),
• Encouragement to carpool, in particular through the creation of a carpooling platform,
• The launch in 2024 of a plan to install charging points for electric vehicles (from 2025).

Limiting the impact of buildings and IT equipment

The second focus of the Low Carbon Pathway is to limit the environmental impact of the Group’s buildings. As part of this, we ensure that all building projects seek an environmental certification (BREEAM, HQE in Operation, etc.). Since 2012, more than 170,000m2 of the Group’s commercial property has been certified, either under construction or during renovation.⁽¹⁾

The Group has also launched its digital sobriety plan, to assess its current situation and establish a roadmap for reducing the impact of its IT activities on the environment.

As part of this, a decision has been made to replace laser printers with ink-jet models, which consume less energy, have a longer life-span and use greener consumables.

Optimising energy consumption

Another focus of the Low Carbon Pathway is reducing the Group’s energy consumption. To do this, by means of the “Tertiary Eco Energy” project, MMA and Covéa are committed to achieving the target of cutting energy consumption by 40% in 2030 and 60% in 2050 (in accordance with the requirements of the French tertiary decree 2019-771 of 23 July 2019 relating to measures to reduce final energy consumption in tertiary buildings).

Furthermore, to address the global energy crisis and in response to the request by the French government, Covéa has launched an energy sobriety plan to reduce its energy consumption. It includes:

• Limiting the temperature to 19°C in winter,
• Using air conditioning only when the outside temperature exceeds 26°C in summer,
• Turning off the lights on MMA branch signs and in windows and at central sites (between 9pm and 8am. Monday to Saturday, and completely from 9pm on Saturday to 8am on Monday),
• Providing all staff with information about how they can act more sustainably.

Lastly, a number of concrete initiatives at MMA sites demonstrate the Group’s efforts regarding renewables and energy generation:

• The signing of a green energy contract with EDF for all operational sites that generate electricity: the volume of energy from renewable sources generated and fed back into the French national grid covers 100% of the Group’s electricity consumption.
• The start-up of two solar panel parks on shade structures at the Saran and Strasbourg sites in 2024 and the launch of studies for future parks to be built over the coming years. The aim is to produce more than 4.8 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable energy per year for the sites’ own consumption by the end of 2026.

Developing the circular economy

Covéa’s actions to promote the circular economy

In 2024, Covéa Immobilier continued to promote the reuse of materials and equipment, both as part of renovation projects and when purchasing equipment and furniture.
In 2024, these projects included:⁽¹⁾

• Continuing to implement the “Booster du Réemploi” programme on major building renovation projects within the investment property portfolio: Le Séquana (Paris 13), Dissy (Issy-les-Moulineaux), Le Gallo (Boulogne-Billancourt), Charonne (Paris 11), Bonne Nouvelle (Paris 10) and 55 Lyon (Paris 12). All stakeholders are encouraged to reuse the materials deconstructed either on the site or elsewhere and to seek reused materials as an alternative to materials usually purchased new for use in renovations.
• All new central site projects (excluding those in branches) now include furniture aligned with CSR values, meaning that it is eco-designed, second-hand, upcycled or local.
• During all clearances and renovations of operational sites (excluding branches), furniture is given to staff and/or charities. In addition, “second life” areas have been created on our central sites. Employees are invited to drop off in them various items from their offices that they no longer use (such as office supplies, books and IT equipment), so that they can be given away or recycled.
• Reuse of spare parts recovered from maintenance projects has also been made standard with service providers. For example, furniture and light fittings from another building in the portfolio have been reused in the Nord Pont site restaurant.
  In addition, Covéa Immobilier is continuing its commitment to reducing waste and optimising waste treatment and recycling:
  • Covéa Immobilier tightened its waste traceability requirements for its service providers in 2023, and contracts now mandate a reporting format and frequency (Trackdéchets platform and Waste Register) to enable more accurate measurement of annual waste production,
  • All Covéa central sites and branches (excluding those in Corsica and overseas departments and regions) have been equipped with collection points for waste recycling since July 2024,
  • Research is under way into how waste recycling can be extended to sites in Corsica and overseas departments and regions,
  • Lastly, since February 2024, all drinks in the restaurants on central sites in France have been provided in aluminium cans that are infinitely recyclable, and the catering operator offers reusable tableware for all eat-in meals.

Covéa group’s “Sustainable Repair” programme

In 2024, the Group launched a vast “Sustainable Repair” programme across the motor vehicle claims scope in France to accelerate the development of sustainable repairs and involve all the stakeholders, both internal and external.
This programme will last several years and is run by the property and casualty insurance France teams. It has several aims:

• Increase the number of vehicle parts repaired, by offering financial incentives to networks of approved repair services, by highlighting the importance of training and by promoting new more sustainable repair techniques,
• Develop the distribution and use of spare parts from the circular economy, in association with dismantling partners,
• Promote sustainable repairs to customers making claims.

In 2024, 49.1% of bodywork parts damaged in an accident (and eligible to be repaired) were repaired or replaced with reused parts by our approved garages. This is an increase of 1.1 percentage points compared to 2023.

ÉcoJardin certification: MMA’s commitment to biodiversity

The Le Mans, Chartres and Strasbourg sites have recently secured ÉcoJardin certification in recognition of their use of differentiated ecological management of green spaces to protect and develop biodiversity.

To obtain this certification, which is awarded for three years, the sites were required to comply with strict criteria in seven areas, including water management, soil management, biodiversity and educating the public. 
Measures included eliminating plastic sheeting, mowing grass areas less frequently, reusing green waste as mulch, installing habitats for fauna (insect houses and hives) and ceasing to water plants, shrubs and lawns. MMA adopted an environmental strategy aimed at conserving the natural spaces on its main sites several years ago.

On the Strasbourg site, water consumption has been cut from 1,594m3 in 2021 to zero in 2023, and on the La Californie site in Le Mans, which covers more than 50 hectares including 20 hectares of forest, over 120 small nestboxes have been installed for wild birds.

Biodiversity-focused events are also organised on each site to raise employee awareness of the approach in place.

(1) Covéa Sustainability Report - 2024