Eco-Manager 2007

Award presented to Munich Re Chairman Nikolaus von Bomhard

Munich Re Chairman Nikolaus von Bomhard has been voted "Ökomanager des Jahres 2007" (Eco-Manager of 2007) in the groups category by the environment foundation WWF Deutschland and the business magazine "Capital".

The jury noted that Munich Re was a pioneer in climate-change research and one of the first corporate groups to promote the idea of global countermeasures. Sustainability is an integral part of Group strategy, and a personal credo of Dr. von Bomhard is to "endeavour to act in a way that will not adversely affect the next generation." The jury was particularly impressed by the fact that the Group combined ambitious internal environmental objectives with a willingness to share its expertise with society.

At the awards ceremony, held on 21 November in Berlin, Nikolaus von Bomhard commented: "Munich Re has always acted in a prospective, prudent und responsible manner. The award recognises the achievements of the Group as a whole. For decades, our experts have been analysing climate change, evaluating its risks, and consistently implementing the resulting findings in our business. My contribution has been a modest one, and I am accordingly pleased to receive the award on behalf of Munich Re."

There is an award for medium-sized companies as well as for groups. This year, two eco-managers of the year were chosen in that category: Peter Kowalsky, shareholder and Chief Executive of Bionade GmbH and Jürgen Schmidt, founder and Chairman of memo AG office suppliers.

Extract from the press release issued by WWF and "Capital"

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Knowledge of the environment is one of the fundamentals of a reinsurer’s business. In order to be able to write insurance company risks – windstorm, flood, tsunamis, epidemics, disease and death – a reinsurer needs an in-depth knowledge of their causes and future development. Munich Re began analysing the risks of climate change, and informing politicians and experts all over the world about them, long before the word climate change was in the news. Today, a team of 30 geoscientists, meteorologists and climate researchers gives presentations, advises decision-makers, constructs risk profiles and is able, for example, to depict earthquake, flood and tornado risks at the click of a mouse. Munich Re consistently applies its findings in the way it manages its business and in new insurance products. For instance, Munich Re’s scientific and engineering know-how has been used to help formulate standards for the construction of offshore wind parks.

In addition to a concern with the environment that is fundamental to our business, we as a Group strive to reconcile profit and the ecology. Our head office in Munich will be carbon-neutral by 2009, closely followed by the worldwide reinsurance group as a whole. Thus, an impact on the environment in one area will be offset in another area. This involves a variety of measures such as an online sustainability portal, insulated buildings, air conditioning at our Toronto office fed by cold water from the depths of Lake Ontario, replacing business travel with videoconferencing, and energy-saving photovoltaic systems. Munich Re is also the first company in Germany to have signed the UN’s Principles for Responsible Investment which, for example, impose minimum social, ethical and ecological standards on the business written. The Group’s innovative Kyoto Multi Risk Policy insures companies that invest in climate-protection projects in developing countries. This not only implements our expertise but also supports the objectives of the Kyoto Protocol .

Furthermore, Nikolaus von Bomhard regards nature as an integral part of activities at the Group’s Akademie Schloss Hohenkammer conference centre. The complex includes a farm on which 320 hectares of arable land are devoted to the propagation of organic seed, and where free-range turkeys are reared. Outside peak times, power will be supplied to the extensive seminar centre solely from renewable sources: a wood chip heating plant and a planned biogas facility. This initiative also involves the use of photovoltaic collectors and of groundwater, in place of expensive cooling units, to cool the seminar rooms.

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