Protecting the environment as a primary asset is one of the Generali Group’s guiding values. As defined in its Ethical Code, the Group has made a commitment to direct its own decisions towards ensuring compatibility between economic and environmental factors.

In the absence of certification to environmental standards, in early 2009 the Group launched an important project for the implementation of an in-house Environmental Management System (EMS) compliant with UNI EN ISO 14001 requirements. The definition and standardisation of Group environmental policy are the first steps towards implementation of the system.

Following the decision to launch this international project the Eco-Committee was re-organised and is now known as the Environmental Management System Committee. The operating committee comprises of Italian Group managers with the competencies required to attain project objectives relating to the Real Estate Management, Purchasing and Logistics, IT, Human Resources, Strategic Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility Departments, with the addition of Sustainability Report contacts from the main European countries in which the Group operates: Germany, France, Spain, Austria and Switzerland, and also, in this case, of the BSI Group.

Project goals include the definition of:

• group environmental policy;
• key environmental performance indicators (KPIs);
• the Group environmental plan, including specific targets and objectives for environmental improvement that can be measured and assessed via KPIs;
• the management system model aimed at improving environmental performance;
• guidelines and operating procedures for planning and conducting checks on the effectiveness of the EMS.

The project scope includes both direct impact, i.e. related to the performance of the Group's activities, and indirect impact, i.e. associated with purchasing, planning and supplying insurance products and with institutional investment operations.