The Board Sustainability Committee (SC) is responsible for the supervision and oversight of the Group’s sustainability strategy and related projects, goals and priorities principally in relation to ESG matters.

The Board Risk Management Committee (RMC) is involved in reviewing and approving risk governance matters that relate to sustainability. This aligns with our organisational approach of
managing sustainability risk as part of our Enterprise Risk Management Framework and the RMC’s remit to provide oversight to manage financial, operational and reputational impact arising from risk governance matters.

Training and updates on key industry developments form a part of the board agenda. All Great Eastern Holdings (GEH) directors attended the “Environmental, Social and Governance Essentials” course, organised by the Singapore Institute of Directors (SID).

Expertise and best practice sharing have also been done at SC meetings in 2022, covering topics such as Net Zero and carbon markets. In response to the growing significance of sustainability, the SC has increased the number of meetings from two to three
per year.

The Group Management Committee (GMC), led by the Group Chief Executive Officer, comprises key members of our senior management. The GMC is responsible for providing leadership, direction, and functional oversight of the Group’s sustainability performance, as well as fostering the Group’s culture and conduct. They ensure that sustainability is included in our corporate strategy planning. To achieve long-term and sustainable growth, we routinely assess our governance structure concerning material sustainability
topics and climate-related risks.

At Great Eastern, a robust and sustainable governance system commits us to the highest degree of sustainability oversight and accountability.

To ensure smooth implementation of our sustainability strategy, the GMC has established four Sustainability Taskforces with four key priorities. Each Taskforce is led by a GMC member to ensure firm accountability and the organisation-wide integration of sustainability. They play a critical role in achieving our sustainability targets.

We regularly review our material ESG factors to ensure long-term sustainable growth. We focus on material factors that are aligned with both our corporate and business strategies, and are relevant to the changing needs of our key stakeholders and global trends.

To this end, the GMC held a materiality assessment workshop in August 2022 to reassess our material ESG factors. This resulted in a renewed sustainability approach and a refinement of our sustainability pillars and material ESG factors to better reflect our
approach towards creating long-term value in a rapidly changing world.

This is crucial given the emerging challenges the world is facing in current times. It defines the social role we can play and the importance of engaging our employees and financial representatives. It also puts us on track to support the Paris Agreement by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

We rely on our stakeholders to provide a wide range of feedback to develop our sustainability strategy, validate goals, and identify material ESG factors. This knowledge assists us in determining the objectives and goals that will have the most significant impact on our business and are most relevant across our value chain.

We engage with them regularly through various channels and feedback mechanisms so that we can consider their expectations as we shape our company’s growth, innovation, and long-term success. Our key stakeholders include shareholders, regulators, customers,
suppliers, community, employees and financial representatives. 

Great Eastern has been serving our customers for 115 years. We have successfully grown and expanded our businesses by aligning our
businesses to our social purpose and balancing the interests of all our key stakeholders.

We believe that we can make life great by providing financial security and promoting good health and meaningful relationships. As a leading insurer in Asia, we will adhere to the same principles that have served us well while responding to the new and evolving risks and opportunities in the larger environment.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors form an integral part of our business considerations. Climate science has shown the impact of environmental degradation and the related social, economic and other consequences which affect our lives and livelihoods.  We work with key stakeholders to create sustainable development in the economies and communities in which we operate. 

We are taking meaningful steps towards reducing our carbon footprint in our investment portfolio, and strive to achieve net zero in our operations. Given that we operate in Asia, we take into account the rapidly evolving markets, current customer readiness, the availability of deployable technology and the regulations landscape. We are committed to setting aside adequate resources to build business and operational resilience in preparation for climate change.

Our ESG approach is based on three pillars. Together with their respective sub-dimensions, each pillar serves as a priority-setting framework for integrating ESG concerns into our business operations to handle risks and opportunities.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors form an integral part of our business considerations. Climate science has shown the  impact of environmental degradation and the related social, economic and other consequences which affect our lives and livelihoods.  We work with key stakeholders to create sustainable development in the economies and communities in which we operate. 

We are taking meaningful steps towards reducing our carbon footprint in our investment portfolio, and strive to achieve net zero in our operations. Given that we operate in Asia, we take into account the rapidly evolving markets, current customer readiness, the availability of deployable technology and the regulations landscape. We are committed to setting aside adequate resources to build business and operational resilience in preparation for climate change.

Our sustainability strategy and goals are based on internal reviews and stakeholder input acquired through an ESG materiality assessment evaluation in August 2022. It helped identify how we can deliver on our corporate strategy while creating meaningful economic, environmental, and social impact. It is important that our efforts remain focused on the aspects of our sustainability journey that are most important to our company and stakeholders.

 Our material ESG factors are as follows: