Employees at Aviva Canada plant native species on annual Climate Day.Supplied
When Rachel Auwaerter was earning a science degree at Queen’s University, she took an environmental impact course. “It was super interesting, and I’ve always had an interest in animals and nature, but I never knew what that would look like as a career,” she says. Upon graduating in 2022, Auwaerter found the perfect position as a sustainability project co-ordinator at Markham, Ont.-based Aviva Canada.
Aviva Canada is a leading property and casualty insurance group, providing home, automobile, lifestyle and business insurance to 2.5 million customers. “Our customers are increasingly experiencing the devastating impacts of extreme weather events on their homes, businesses and communities,” says CEO Tracy Garrad. “We have a responsibility to take action, including pursuing our net-zero targets and advocating for building a resilient Canada that is better prepared for what is to come.”
The statistics are alarming: in 2024, the Canadian insurance industry reported $8.5-billion in losses from extreme weather events such as fires, floods and hailstorms. “Globally, Aviva has always been very involved in our communities and an early adopter of climate-positive policies and actions, but since announcing our net-zero ambition in 2021, we’re more focused in our action and more vocal in this space as an industry leader, particularly around adaptation and resilience,” says Michelle Li, vice president of claims strategy and shared services.
In her initial role, Auwaerter helped organize the company’s first annual Net Zero Supplier Summit in 2023. “We told our suppliers why their emissions affect our emissions, and that we know how hard it is for them to do the science-based work we’re asking them to do,” she says. At last year’s summit, suppliers were starting to set their targets and collect their carbon inventory.
Aviva Canada hopes to reach an ambitious goal: to be a net-zero company by 2040. “We recognized the need to engage with the supply chain in a different way,” says Li. “In order to reach our targets, we need to bring our supply chain along with us.”
That means supporting suppliers, such as auto body shops and property restoration companies, in understanding what net zero means and planning how to get there. It’s working – for example, one of the property-restoration companies is transitioning their entire fleet to electric vehicles (EVs) and have already vastly reduced emissions as a result. “Yes, there’s sometimes an upfront expense, but people realize the long-term savings and climate-impact payoff,” says Auwaerter, now a sustainable claims program consultant.
In 2024, Aviva Canada rolled out its Net Zero Supplier Accelerator program, a six-month, six-module initiative to help suppliers set targets and develop action plans. Since then, almost 40 suppliers have gone through the program. “It’s important that insurers are acting and advocating on climate change and bringing others along, because extreme weather events are already impacting our customers in different ways across our entire business,” says Li.
Employees are on board too, most visibly every June on Climate Day, when thousands across Canada participate in a mass volunteering event where they engage in activities such as planting native trees and shrubs in local communities or weaving upcycled mats from discarded milk bags. Auwaerter has planted trees at a park near the office on one of her paid volunteer days.
“Sustainability work can be daunting, but I’m seeing a positive impact in shifting mindsets and behaviours to help mitigate the extreme weather we are seeing,” says Auwaerter. “It’s important for individuals to do their part, but big corporations need to lead the way – they have to make that change, and at Aviva, we’re doing it.”
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Advertising feature produced by Canada’s Top 100 Employers, a division of Mediacorp Canada Inc. The Globe and Mail’s editorial department was not involved.