Sustainability Award
Aviva is one of the UK’s leading plcs and a recognised market leader on climate strategy and decarbonisation.
When a new CEO came in during the summer of 2020, there was a renewed and increased focus on its sustainability reporting. To maintain its leadership, Aviva wanted to become one of the first companies to obtain reasonable assurance over some of its climate metrics. It needed an internal transformation to ensure the business was able to deliver on its commitments – and bolster its leading position.
Aviva asked KPMG to support in effecting a transformation across three main aspects. Firstly, its TCFD (Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures) reporting. Secondly, to assess Aviva’s control environment for its climate and wider ESG metrics. And thirdly, to drive the creation of a new operating model for non-financial reporting (NFR) – a centre of excellence approach that would lay the foundation for its NFR for years to come.
A multi-skilled team of climate, ESG, assurance & reporting, and insurance industry experts from KPMG has helped Aviva achieve all this.
The KPMG team helped Aviva reassess its whole approach to TCFD reporting. Prior to then, most organisations took a “risk and compliance” approach that conformed with minimum standards. KPMG integrally informed the thinking and the scope of the project, advising that the report be turned into a strategic opportunity to drive organisational-wide transformation and create a strong and compelling narrative that shone a light on the positive and progressive work being done to address climate-related issues.
KPMG also performed an end-to-end assessment of Aviva’s seven climate metrics and 100+ wider ESG metrics, to support the group’s non-financial reporting and sustainability strategy. The team drafted a first-of-its-kind ‘climate reporting manual’ to ensure greater scrutiny on the input data for non-financial reporting. Aviva’s core metrics received reasonable public assurance in their 2021 climate report (the highest possible level of assurance).
The team from KPMG then supported Aviva on work to establish a non-financial reporting (NFR) Centre of Excellence in Group Finance. This has enabled there to be one source of truth for NFR across Aviva, improving accuracy, controls and efficiency of NFR metrics reported internally and externally from the Group Finance function, and greater integration of the climate functions performed by Group Finance, Risk and Sustainability. These metrics inform decision-making across all layers of governance on the organisation’s progress against publicly stated ESG commitments in real time.
Through an unwavering focus on the needs and priorities of the client, and deep technical knowledge, KPMG has helped achieve a number of key outcomes:
- TCFD 2021 report won multiple industry awards, including from PwC (Climate Change Reporting in the FTSE 350) and TCFD Report of the Year in the Sustainable Investment Awards
- Climate reporting manual developed, along with multiple detailed process maps, controls assessment matrices, policy documents and other internal assets
- NFR Centre of Excellence nearing completion – a lasting legacy for years to come
- Highly positive feedback from key stakeholders at multiple levels in Aviva
View the KPMG in the UK profile in the MCA Members Directory.