First General's Sustainability Plan

Our Commitment

At First General, a culture of sustainability has been present since its inception, however, our sustainability strategy has not been explicit. We are now formalizing our strategy to clearly reflect our values and commitment to sustainability for all our stakeholders. We have come to see sustainability as a fundamental driver for our long-term business success. First General is committed to integrating sustainability throughout all aspects of our company – our operations, our people, our networks and suppliers, and our communities. We understand that sustainability is a journey. While we are just beginning our process, we are developing a plan to truly embed sustainability throughout our organization and become a sustainability leader. As we go down this path, we are committed to providing updates on our progress through our website and welcome input from our valued networks as we embark on this important endeavor.

Our Actions

Reducing Our Impacts

  • Waste / recycling – We have metal recycling and e-waste programs in place at all of our locations. As well many of our locations work with Restore/Habitat for Humanity
  • Fleet optimization – Improving the logistics management across our operations reduces fuel consumed in our fleet, reduces our GHG emissions footprint, and provides cost savings.
  • Green products – We use eco-certified products where feasible, such as Eco-logo certified products for water damage treatment.

Expanding Our Influence

  • Green Suppliers –We are strengthening relationships with suppliers who are committed to sustainability, including those who are Eco-Logo certified
  • Green Infrastructure – We work to incorporate green building and resiliency principles into infrastructure and property level rebuilds.
  • First General University – We will be providing education and training to our PM’s to provide them with the tools to implement all changes into their daily routines. We will teach them how to properly communicate our sustainability program and provide insureds with education and information.

Supporting Our Communities

  • Habitat for Humanity – donations of salvageable building materials; furniture
  • Community involvement – charitable donations; participation in events; employee volunteering, support and fundraising for the Special Olympics, Cancer Canada through WICC and many women’s insurance associations throughout Canada

 

 Our Plan

Year 1 (and 2): Sustainability Impacts, Risk/Opportunity Assessment and Baseline

  • Identify and assess significant sustainability impacts and issues
  • Due diligence and intelligence gathering: benchmarking; background research
  • Initial risk/opportunity assessment
  • Develop initial baseline(s) for select key issues (e.g. carbon/energy; waste; community investment, etc.)
  • Continue to make progress with actions already initiated, such as our Restore/Habitat for Humanity efforts and recycling programs for electronics and scrap metal. Expand these efforts where feasible and use them to inform our baseline activities and strategy moving forward
  • Identify employee training opportunities and areas to integrate sustainability considerations into existing business practices.

Year 2: Strategy Development

  • Refine risk / opportunity assessment (as needed)
  • Establish vision, management objectives
  • Establish strategic pillars for sustainability strategy
  • Establish program elements for strategy pillars and identify implementable actions
  • Establish key metrics
  • Define management processes, accountability, resourcing
  • Develop communication and reporting needs

Years 3-5: Engagement, Implementation, Results

  • Internal engagement – gather feedback and build capacity
  • External engagement – develop approach for industry involvement; gather external input
  • Implementation of identified priorities
  • Develop internal systems where needed; integrate expectations throughout business
  • Incorporate sustainability modules into First General university courses and employee training
  • Incorporate education for our Project Managers as to how to incorporate the sustainability objectives into their day to day work while respecting the insurers protocols and practical limits.
  • Monitor and report results, through website and other communication channels, as identified and deemed important

Ongoing: continuous education, learning, and improvement

 

Frank Mirabelli, President and CEO