Creating a healthier planet
At Vitality creating a healthier planet means three things.
- Minimising the negative impact of our business on the environment
- Working with our suppliers and partners to reduce our collective environmental impact
- Developing products that drive more sustainable choices
We have also committed to achieving carbon neutrality in Vitality's operations by 2025 with a longer-term ambition to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2050 or earlier.
We've mapped our carbon footprint and we're currently setting milestone emission reduction targets. We will align our targets to the science-based targets initiative which helps businesses ensure targets are in line with the latest climate science.
We will publish our plan on how we will achieve our longer-term ambition by 2025 or sooner. To find out more info please read our Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures Report (TCFD) report.
What does it all mean?
Carbon footprint
The total amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an individual, organisation, service or product.
Carbon neutral
An activity is carbon neutral if all the carbon emissions resulting from that activity have been offset.
Greenhouse gases (GHGs)
Gases in the earth’s atmosphere that trap heat. Well known GHGs are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane or sulphur dioxide.
Net zero
Cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible, with any remaining emissions re-absorbed from the atmosphere.
Minimising our impact
We’re working to reduce the impact we have on the environment.
We have reduced emissions associated with our buildings and almost all our electricity comes from renewable sources.
We are currently transitioning the fleet of cars driven by our Vitality nurses to hybrid electric vehicles
We are committed to reporting on our plans and progress and so are actively embracing emerging guidance and regulation, such as the TCFD framework, that will support best practice across the market and help enhance transparency.
We have updated our policies to reflect the risks associated with climate change. We continue to improve our Standards to help manage and track our progress.
We support the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) through our parent company, Discovery who are a signatory.
Our investments are managed by portfolio asset managers who have adopted responsible investment practices. We have also taken steps to reduce the carbon intensity of our bond portfolio.
In 2022 we launched an electric vehicle leasing scheme to our 2,300 employees and appointed “Green Champions” to encourage knowledge sharing across the business.
We also launched a regulatory training module to all employees on sustainability, encouraging them to calculate their individual carbon footprint.
In 2023 we ran an eco-campaign, supported by our Green champions, to encourage employees to make more sustainable choices. We also launched a car-pooling scheme encouraging employees to share their commute to the office.
Working with our supply chain
Being a Force for Good, an exceptional partner and a good corporate citizen are key values at Vitality. We're collaborating with our partners to help reduce our collective carbon footprint.
What this means for our suppliers and partners
- We have reviewed our suppliers' and partners' approach to managing environmental and social issues
- We are focusing on our most material suppliers, such as hospital providers, that are critical to our supply chain emissions reduction.
- We are updating our Supplier code of conduct to ensure all suppliers are managing their environmental and social issues.
- We have added a Sustainability award at our annual Supplier awards, to recognise the actions our suppliers and partners are taking to decarbonise.
- From a DEI perspective, we are exploring how to support more Black, Asian, Mixed Race and other ethnically diverse-led enterprise owners in our supply chain, as part of our Race at Work Charter commitment.
Driving more sustainable choices
From more sustainable rewards to more options for recycling, we are continuing to explore opportunities with our Vitality rewards partners to drive more sustainable choices through the Vitality Programme.
