The Co-operators is the leading Canadian-owned multi-product insurance company. As a co-operative, the organization has shown a commitment to serving not only its members but also the communities in which it operates since its founding in 1945.

In recent years, The Co-operators has recommitted itself to operating in a more sustainable manner. The organization has undertaken what it calls its “sustainability journey,” which will result in the balanced integration of economic, environmental and social considerations into its decision making processes. According to Co-operators President and CEO, Kathy Bardswick, embarking on the journey was more of an adjustment than a complete departure from the way it’s always done business.

“Co-operatives operate on a set of values that is quite well aligned with sustainability principles. Our organization has always tried to operate with the long-term health of our business and our communities in mind. Over the past couple of years, we have redoubled our efforts and established a framework to ensure sustainability principles are embedded in the organization, that they are part of who we are as a co-operative, an employer and an insurance company.”

Although sustainability had long been on Bardswick’s mind, she explains that it was her children who ultimately inspired her to bring her passion to her work.

“As my children grew, they started to challenge me,” Bardswick says. “We would talk more and more at the dinner table about issues of health, well being, and physical resources. I had all of this in my head – that I wasn’t doing enough as leader of this organization, as a parent in my family, as a member of my community, I just didn’t feel that I was personally doing enough. I had all of this in my head, but no real sense of a framework for how to move into action.”

Bardswick was introduced to just such a framework at a conference of the International Co-operative and Mutual Insurance Federation in Singapore in 2005. After hearing Dr. Karl-Henrik Robèrt speak about The Natural Step (TNS) Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development, she decided to use what she had learned to move her company toward sustainability.

“Sitting in an audience of 1500 people listening to Dr. Robèrt, I had an ‘aha’ moment. He provided a clear way to think about how I can move from living in my head and thinking about issues to making real changes in my behaviour at work and on a personal level.”

Under Bardswick’s guidance, The Co-operators has been working to integrate sustainability throughout all of its operations and departments – no easy task for a group of companies with nearly 5,000 employees and offices spanning the entire country.

Shortly after the conference, The Co-operators worked with The Natural Step to customize an e-learning course on sustainability. The course was introduced at the start of 2007, as the organization held focus groups across the country that would ultimately involve not only its own staff members, but also its member organizations, its delegates and board of directors, as well as the organization’s Community Advisory Panels.

Bardswick and other executives traveled the country conducting the sessions, which would have a major impact on the organization’s approach.

“Often I felt like all I had to do was let people know that it’s okay to request support on initiatives they want to resource and voice expectations that we should be doing things differently,” she said. “As soon as that was out, people stepped up to it.”

In 2007, The Co-operators became the first Canadian company to join the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI) Insurance Working Group. It worked with The Natural Step to conduct a baseline analysis of its operations. In June 2007, The Co-operators board of directors approved a sustainability policy, and amended the organization’s vision and values statements to reflect its commitment to sustainability. By the start of 2008, implementation of the new direction was underway.

“We were quite fortunate,” Bardswick recalled. “The Natural Step Framework helped us take this very complex set of questions, issues, fears and concerns, and provided a structure that allowed us to think about them in a more clear and comprehensive way.”

Recognizing that its expertise lies in insurance provision, The Co-operators has been working to develop new insurance products that support its commitment to sustainability. In 2007 it introduced Community Guard, an insurance solution for the non-profit/voluntary sector, and Windsurance, insurance designed for windmills. In December 2008, the company added three new initiatives to support environmentally, socially and economically responsible behaviour:

• Home insurance endorsements that provide additional coverage to restore property with environmentally friendly alternatives following a claim.
• Auto insurance discounts for clients who drive hybrid electric vehicles.
• Socially Responsible Investment options that allow individuals to invest in companies with strong records on environmental protection, human rights, safety, and responsiveness to stakeholder concerns.

Beginning this year, the company introduced sustainability to the performance evaluation of all vice presidents, linking their ability to achieve specific sustainability objectives to their compensation.

“This helps send a clear message that sustainability is important, that people are going to be measured on it, and it very clearly defines accountability for various organizational units,” Bardswick explained. “It also means that, because it is vetted and measurable, we can aggregate sustainability activity and monitor how well we’re actually delivering on what we’ve said we need to deliver on.”

For Bardswick, success will be when sustainability thinking is fully incorporated into The Co-operators.

“On a personal level, success will be when we no longer have this thing called sustainability, it’s just seen as the right way to manage our business,” she said. “This is what we’re about as an insurer – we’re here to provide financial security to Canadians and their communities – you can’t do that unless you fully embrace your responsibility to make the world a safer, healthier place to be.”

This fall, the organization will be hosting Impact! The Co-operators Youth Conference for Sustainability Leadership. The conference will bring together passionate youth from across the country to explore real sustainability solutions in Guelph, Ontario. For more information, visit http://www.impactyouthsustainability.ca.