Internal efforts to protect the environment

For many years, MMA and Covéa have taken action to limit their impact on the environment. 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 part of the “Covéa 2024 – Growing together” strategic plan, the Group has adopted a Low Carbon Pathway, with the target of reducing its direct greenhouse gas emissions associated with its operations by 3% a year up to 2024⁽¹⁾.

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. In 2022, this entailed:

• The addition of new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to the Group’s long-term leasing fleet and its executive vehicle fleet ;
• The introduction of a sustainable transportation benefit of €500 a year for each employee using these modes of transport ;
• The rollout within the Group of a car pooling platform to encourage this mode of transport for commuter travel ;
• Informing employees about eco-friendly driving habitts ;
• The creation of infrastructure to support environmentally friendly modes of transport at Group sites, such as charging points, bicycle shelters and cycle paths ;
• Helping employees make the transition towards working from home more often.

Limiting the impact of buildings and IT equipment

The second focus of the Low Carbon Pathway aims to limit the environmental impact of the Group’s buildings. Its goal is to obtain environmental certification (BREEAM, HQE Operation, etc.) for all properties. Since 2012, more than 170,000m2 of the Group’s commercial property has been certified, under construction or in the process of renovation⁽¹⁾.

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

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 reducing 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 requirement imposed by the French government, Covéa has launched an energy sobriety plan that aims to reduce its energy consumption by 10% by 2024. This entails in particular:

• Limiting the temperature to 19°C in winter ;
• Using air conditioning only when the temperature is above 26°C in the summer ;
• Turning off the lights on MMA branch signs and in windows and at central sites (between 9.00 p.m. and 8.00 a.m. Monday to Saturday, and completely from 9.00 p.m. on Saturday to 8.00 a.m. on Monday) ;
• Informing employees about eco-friendly habits.

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

• Signing of a green energy contract with EDF for all sites in operation that generate electricity : the volume of energy from renewable sources and fed back into the French national grid corresponds to 100% of the Group’s electricity consumption.
• Installation of solar panels on shade structures in Chartres : in January 2023, 2,352 panels were fitted on car parks, covering a total of around 4,000m2. These will provide a quarter of the site’s electricity production.

Developing the circular economy

The Group is also involved in developing the circular economy. Via the “Booster du Réemploi” programme, it supports five projects each year that aim to reuse materials on construction sites and find reused materials as an alternative to new materials; In 2022, these projects included⁽¹⁾:

• Donating furniture to employees during site clearances ;
• Recovering old furniture to be reused on sites when they are renovated ;
• Buying second-hand furniture at certain sites instead of buying new furniture.

In addition, the Group is continuing with its commitment to reducing waste. A number of initiatives were launched in 2022, such as:

• Collecting unused IT equipment: during European Week for Waste Reduction, the Group led a campaign to collect unused computer hardware in partnership with Les Ateliers du Bocage.
• Anti-waste actions at company canteens, in partnership with Sodexo, for example by weighing the amounts thrown away by each site and at each stage (storage, creating dishes, presentation, returning plates).
• A solution for collecting and recycling cigarette butts at all central sites: a partnership has been set up with ÉcoMégot, which has developed a more environmentally friendly solution for recycling both tobacco and cigarette paper.
• Sorting site waste: two pilot projects were launched during the renovation of the Le Mans site, with the aim of sorting all waste from the construction site on-site using specific containers for each type of waste (metal, wood, carpet, etc.).

Protecting biodiversity

Last year, MMA launched a number of projects to help protect and develop biodiversity. Events were organised at the Paris and Le Mans sites to raise employee awareness about the principles of differentiated ecological management.
The Group is also aiming to obtain ÉcoJardin certification for five of its sites by 2024 (two have already obtained this certification, in 2021 and 2022). This label attests to a site’s commitment to ecological management.

(1) Non-financial performance statement – MMA IARD SA – 2022