UNIQA exercises social responsibility

Environmental protection initiatives

UNIQA views its participation as a founding member of the Raiffeisen Climate Protection Initiative (RKI) begun in 2007 as a proactive answer to the environmental challenges of the future. The RKI champions a sustainable economic and social model that strives for a reasonable balance between an innovative, competitive market economy and responsibility toward people and the environment. Under the presidency of the former EU Commissioner of Agriculture, Franz Fischler, the initiative intends to contribute to emerging synergies in the area of energy efficiency and to sensitising large sections of the public with regard to climate protection. This goal is pursued through measures such as internal and external energy conservation days or student competitions as well as active climate protection by the participating companies themselves. Recent activities included participation in the third Raiffeisen Energy Conservation Day in February 2009 and support for the “Car Fasting” campaign, which calls for a reduction of automobile travel and rethinking of personal mobility behaviour during lent.

UNIQA published the UNIQA Climate Protection Manual in 2008 in order to increase the awareness of its employees regarding the goals of the Raiffeisen Climate Protection Initiative as well as to provide specific motivations to reduce environmental impact in their professional and private lives. In addition to general information about the environmental aspects of the construction and use of buildings, daily office operations and driving automobiles, this advice manual focuses on descriptions of UNIQA’s climate-related activities as well as a list of climatefriendly insurance products. These topics are supplemented by extensive tips for reducing energy and resource consumption in the office and at home.

Since February 2008, the UNIQA Tower in Vienna can officially display the EU GreenBuilding certificate. The Austrian Energy Agency recognised the striking building in Vienna as an “energyconscious new building”. This makes the UNIQA Group’s new headquarters opened in 2004 the first new office building in Austria and one of the first buildings in Europe to receive this certificate. Key factors for this recognition included the environmentally- friendly heating and cooling system, which avoids significant CO₂ emissions by using geothermal heating and cooling measures as well as district heating. The significantly higher energy efficiency compared with typical glass buildings also contributes to the environmentally-friendly operation of the building.

The favourable and therefore also environmentally-friendly cost/benefit ratio of the UNIQA Tower was recently confirmed by receipt of the Facility Award 2008 from the Academy for Technical Building Furnishings in June 2008.

UNIQA also evaluated the options for utilisation of energy-saving measures according to the principles of the Raiffeisen Climate Protection Initiative for the hotel project designed by Jean Nouvel and currently under construction on Praterstrasse in Vienna. After weighing of the costs and the financial and environmental benefits, numerous projects are now being realised, including energy pilings and heat pumps, systems for heat recovery from cooling, ventilation and climate-control systems as well as in the areas of wastewater, solar collectors for water heating, the use of well water for façade cooling and the installation of energysaving lighting systems.

In recognition of its initiatives in the area of sustainability, UNIQA remains a member of the Austrian Sustainability Index VÖNIX. This index was started in 2005 and includes publicly listed companies that prove their commitment to sustainability as an economic success factor through verifiable consideration of environmental and social goals.

Energy conservation days are a central element of the Raiffeisen Climate Protection Initiative, in which UNIQA has been an active member since its inception.

The UNIQA Tower in Vienna received the EU “GreenBuilding” certificate as an “energy-conscious new building”.

Numerous energy conservation measures are also being implemented in UNIQA’s hotel project on Vienna’s Praterstrasse designed by Jean Nouvel.

Cultural, sports and social sponsoring

UNIQA’s strategy of strengthening its corporate identity and its standing as a European quality brand with Austrian roots through sponsoring was continued in 2008 with a number of initiatives.

In the area of culture, UNIQA was once again one of the main sponsors of the Salzburg Festival and the Grafenegg Music Festival. Considerable support was also given again to Austria’s most significant operetta festival on the floating stage in Mörbisch as well as to the production of “Tosca” at the Volksoper Vienna. Additional sponsoring contributions went to exhibitions at Austrian museums, including the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Albertina, the Austrian Gallery Belvedere and the MUMOK. The 2008 highlight of the UNIQA ArtCercle, a special programme for art-loving customers, was an exclusive evening in the Albertina within the framework of the exhibition: “Van Gogh. Heartfelt Lines”. In addition to an exclusive introduction, participants were treated to a tour including a reading of letters from Van Gogh to his brother. The UNIQA Group also sponsors various regionally significant artists and art initiatives in its international markets.

In sports, UNIQA continued with great success the proven partnership with Olympic medallist and world champion skier Benjamin Raich. In parallel to this, the cooperation with Marlies Schild, who has already appeared in three advertising campaigns for UNIQA, was also expanded. Despite her accident-related departure at the start of the 2008/2009 season, she and Benjamin Raich represent the “Power Couple” of Austrian sports, making them the ideal symbols of the “new generation” for UNIQA. Together with Olympic medallist and world champion skier Benjamin Raich, UNIQA also promotes the wearing of ski helmets. UNIQA has already distributed more than 12,000 blue ski helmets to children and adults in Austria.

Cooperation with renowned athletes in the Eastern and South Eastern European markets, such as with the Slovakian slalom specialist Veronika Zuzulowa, the trainer of the Croatian national football team Slaven Bilić, the Montenegrin water polo player Alaksandar Ivović and the Bulgarian world-class track and field athlete Ivet Lalova, also contributed to improving awareness of the successful UNIQA brand outside of Austria.

In the social sphere, UNIQA has continued its practice from previous years of donating in conjunction with Raiffeisen Zentralbank a considerable sum to the Mobile Caritas Hospice as a contribution to the care and treatment of people suffering from severe and incurable illnesses within their familiar environments. As the largest health insurer in Austria, UNIQA once again supported the “Pink Ribbon” campaign to raise awareness of the dangers and prevention options of breast cancer. Like many other buildings and sights throughout the world, the UNIQA Tower was once again blanketed in pink light on 1 October, World Breast Cancer Day. Another initiative was undertaken last year in support of hospitals in preventive measures against legionella. 40 hospitals that are insured with UNIQA were investigated at no charge for the presence of this bacteria, which is the cause of Legionnaire’s disease, an illness that kills roughly 10,000 people every year according to estimates of the WHO. The UNIQA Group also supports various charitable initiatives in its international markets. The generous support for a special institute for children in Komanski Most in cooperation with the Montenegrin pop singer Sergej Ćetković is one example from last year.

For years, a fixed element of UNIQA’s sponsoring programme: the internationally renowned Salzburg Festival.

Sports sponsoring with broadly positive impact: Together with UNIQA, Benjamin Raich promotes the wearing of ski helmets.

UNIQA supports athletic activities even beyond the field of top-class sports and contributes in this way to the fitness and health of the population.