Munich Re Foundation - 2022 carbon footprint

CO₂ emissions in total

In 2022, the amount of total CO₂ emissions from the Munich Re Foundation is 1,028 tonnes. Since we compensate the emissions of all participants for their travel to and from the event, the Foundation's events caused the majority of the emissions, at around 945 tonnes (97 per cent). Emissions from office operations (electricity, heating) and business trips were relatively low at 14 tonnes (1 per cent) and 19 tonnes (2 per cent) respectively.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many on-site events and business trips were cancelled in 2020 and 2021. At the beginning of 2022, many events were still held online or hybrid. In the course of the year, measures were relaxed in view of the pandemic, so that the remaining events in 2022 could largely take place on site again. This led to an increase in total emissions of 1012 tonnes of CO₂ compared to the previous year. The share of emissions from events is offset by the Foundation through the purchase of emission certificates. The CO₂ emissions from business trips by employees and the office are offset by Munich Re.*

CO₂ emissions from events

To determine the event emissions, the travel of all participants and speakers was accounted for (the short-term operation of the event rooms can be neglected). The International Conference on Inclusive Insurance in Kingston, Jamaica, accounted for the largest share (87 per cent) with around 901 tonnes of CO₂. This is due to the long flight distances of the 250 participants. The Climate Academy, which brought together young scientists and representatives from non-profit organisations from all over the world in Kigali, Rwanda, produced around 92 tonnes of CO₂ (9 per cent).

The Dialogue Forums event series in Munich contributed less to emissions. At 0.72 tonnes (1< percent), it accounts for a small share, as expected, since the participants usually come from the Munich area.

CO₂ emissions from business operations

CO₂ emissions from business operations (office and business trips) amount to almost 33 tonnes of CO₂: 14 tonnes of CO₂ for the office (electricity and heating requirements) and 19 tonnes of CO₂ for business trips. Air travel accounts for around 99 per cent of emissions here. Since travel has increased again after the COVID-19 pandemic, there has also been an increase in air and rail travel. For more information on the calculation of office and flight emissions, see below: */**

9th January 2023

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* For the calculation of office emissions, 2.8 t CO₂ per employee (FTE) were calculated. This is the result of the Munich Re Corporate Responsibility Report 2016.

** An RFI (Radiative Forcing Index) factor of 3 was applied to air travel. The transfer distance to and from airports for each journey by plane was taken to be 100 km. For train journeys, a distance of 50 km was taken for transfer to and from the station.