Sun Life Financial

Observing Organization

Chartered in 1865, Sun Life Financial is a leading international financial services organization that serves millions of customers worldwide providing a wide range of protection and wealth accumulation products to individuals and corporate customers.

Sun Life Financial’s roots in Canada go back nearly 150 years by selling life insurance to Canadian families in 1871. With a strong service culture, innovative technology, a strong distribution network and long-standing relationships with some of the country’s largest employers and associations, today Sun Life Financial provides financial products and advice to one in every five Canadians.

Business Type: Financial / Banking / Insurance

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Reduction Commitment:

Observing Organization in Milestone 1

Notable GHG Reduction and Sustainability Projects

2011

Data Centre Efficiency Project: This project is expected to save 500,000 kWh of energy per year. This project involved a variety of cooling, heating and insulation projects. In 2011, they removed, or avoided the purchase of, more than 200 servers through a virtualization program that replaces multiple boxes in multiple locations with fewer, high-capacity servers not limited to a physical location. Since the inception of this program in 2006, 900 servers have been eliminated, resulting in two-fold energy savings, since for each KWh required by a server, another kWh is required to support the operation of that server, for functions like cooling and air circulation.

TravelWise: 97 Sun Life Financial employees have engaged in TravelWise. Through carpooling and other methods, Sun Life reduced GHG emissions by 1,300 kgs, saving 550 litres of gasoline.

Sustainability Culture:

The sustainability culture at Sun Life Financial has direction from the top and has activities to engage employees, such as Earth Day, Earth Hour, and online discussion forums. Sun Life Financial has a Canadian Environmental Committee and is a huge success organizationally. The continuing momentum of the International Sustainability Council and seeing upper management support drive sustainability within a large, complex organization indicate a vibrant culture committed to reducing environmental impact. Consistent employee interest and engagement in sustainability events and policies show that Sun Life’s ideologies regarding sustainable practices are valued by every employee.

“What works well is broad engagement and tying your plans directly into the business. Provide a framework & direction, and hand it off to experts for them to pursue further.”

Accomplishments:

Global 100 most Sustainable Corporations in the World (2017)

Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada (2017)

Member of Dow Jones Sustainability Index (North America)

Constituent of FTSE4Good

Canada’s Greenest Employers (2017)

Best Sustainability Report Award for Finance-Insurance Company Sector (2017, Finance and Sustainability Initiative)

Global 100 – Most Sustainable Corporations in the World (2015): Awarded by Corporate Knights, for the 7th consecutive year

Global 100 – Most Sustainable Corporations in the World (2014): Awarded by Corporate Knights, click here for details.

Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada (2014): Awarded by Corporate Knights as one of Canada’s “best of the best” in overall sustainability performance, please click here for more information.

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Program Member

Sun Life Financial

Observing Organization

Reduction Commitment:

Notable GHG Reduction and Sustainability Projects

2011

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