As a global credit insurer, our remit is to enable successful trade. We are committed to supporting trade that is both ethically and environmentally sound.
Trade is essential for the world’s economic development. It allows companies to grow, thereby creating employment and reducing poverty. However, growth needs to be sustainable. That is why, together with our stakeholders, we aim to maximize the sustainable social value and minimize the negative impacts on social and environmental matters arising from our activities.
Our sustainability pledge
We support the ten principles of United Nations Global Compact on human rights, labor conditions, the environment and anti-corruption. Every year we provide an update on the progress we have made.
In addition, in 2022 we have become a member of the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (via our parent company Grupo Catalana Occidente) which means we have committed to transitioning our insurance underwriting portfolio to net-zero gas emissions by 2050. With this ambition, we are one of the first 20 insurers worldwide with this commitment.
ESG at the core of our business
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) topics are more important than ever. They have become a key driver in the development of our products and services, our underwriting strategy and our day-to-day activities in our offices.
On Group level, we have a dedicated ESG Committee, sponsored by our CFO, with representatives from the worldwide Atradius Leadership Team. Their role is to work on nine different work streams, shown below:
- ESG products
- Responsible investment
- Management of ESG Risks
- Digitalization and innovation
- Environmental management
- Employee experience (including an equality plan)
- Investment in society
- Ethics and integrity
- Communication and stakeholder relations
The committee meets on a regular basis and works closely together with their counterparts from our parent company Grupo Catalana Occidente S.A. (GCO).
Locally, committed individual employees initiate various initiatives for the benefit of local communities, ranging from clean-up days to collections for food banks, to sponsored runs for the good cause. The Group encourages internal promotion and supports funding of these initiatives.
Atradius' commitment to behave ethically incorporates social, environmental and financial prosperity. The contribution we make is meant to help strengthen social welfare and build a better environment.
Transparency in reporting
We provide transparency about our ESG commitments via various channels. In 2021, we subscribed the Atradius Group to the Dutch government’s biannual Transparency Benchmark study of the 200 largest companies in the Netherlands. Atradius was awarded 9th place for clarity in ESG reporting.
We also had the quality of our sustainability management system measured by EcoVadis (Business Sustainability Rating Agent, Barcelona). Our policies, actions and results were assessed on 21 sustainability criteria, ranging from environment, labor and human rights, to ethics and sustainable procurement. The resulting scorecard puts Atradius in the upper half of all rated companies.
In December 2021, Sustainalytics, a Global leader in ESG research with almost 30 years of experience around sustainability, put GCO in 12th place, out of 300 insurance companies evaluated.
With our recent membership of the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance and expected European legislation on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence, we continue to build on the development of a set of KPIs that will be in line with official ESG standards and reporting.
Our ambitions for a sustainable future
We feel a continued obligation to manage the ethical, environmental and social risks of our business and contribute to global efforts for making the world a better place to live, work and trade. Our ESG Sustainability Policy is closely aligned with the ESG Sustainability Plan of GCO, our parent company. As such, we will continue our efforts in the nine work streams mentioned above, with focus on dealing with climate change and sustainability, human rights and diversity, as well as digitization, innovation and employee experience.
