Santam has qualified for the Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Index and is one of the best performers this year in the low environmental impact category.
The SRI Index recognises companies with good sustainability policies and practices, demonstrating a high standard of reporting. The 2009 Index includes 34 Top 40 companies, 30 Mid-Caps and 3 Small Cap companies.
Leading UK-based sustainability research provider EIRIS conducted the company assessments which involved a review of publicly available company information as well as profile and survey responses from the companies taking part in the review. The goal is for companies to use the index criteria as the accepted mainstream benchmark in South Africa, against which good triple bottom line practices are measured.
“Being acknowledged by a respected independent source on how relevant Santam is to a changingenvironment gives us a great sense of accomplishment,” says Ray-ann Sedres, Santam’s Head of Integrated Sustainability Management. “Italso shows others our ability to be future thinking in our approaches and actions,” she adds.
Santam has been participating in the review since the SRI Index started 5 years ago.In that time the Santam Sustainability Unit with a Sustainability Sub-committee of the board was established, resources were allocated and a framework developed. “We also rallied business to take responsibility and drive respective sustainability focus areas which weremanaged and measured on an annual basis,” says Sedres.
The Santam sustainability framework has been steadily implemented throughout the business and comprises 10 focus areas, each underpinned by measurable objectives. Implementation of the activities of each focus area today will ensure a strong business in the future.
“In our journey to find solutions that are aligned to social and environmental needs, we created opportunities for dialogue within industry on the things that matter to us all like climate change. We also continue to focus on our internal processes, i.e. getting our house in order by exploring ways to create an efficient and sustainable business. We could only achieve this by getting our staff to contribute to the conversation on finding ways to improve our business.
“Santam’s involvement in the SRI Index is continuous so we will be collaborating with our stakeholders to work on the areas of improvement with a focus on the environmental issues,” concludes Sedres.
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