"Our goal is to simplify access to quality healthcare and move towards net zero emissions by 2030"

The ASISA Group has defended a clear philosophy for years: its work, both insurance and healthcare, plays a vital role in the development of society. Now it wants to go further and, for this reason, it has just renewed its ESG Strategy, which aims to multiply the social impact of its initiatives. The first step has been to create a new area, the Sustainability Department, led by Aline Gómez-Acebo who details, in this interview, the objectives and actions that the company has set for itself in the short, medium and long term.. We will talk with her, among other things, about the Group's commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025 and its commitment to simplify access to high-quality healthcare.

The company has just reviewed its ESG commitment. What is the new objective that you have set for yourself? I know of few companies that look as long-term as the ASISA Group. Sustainability is part of its raison d'être, of its work as an active part of society, and it is a backbone of the business activity itself, which generates a direct impact on the health and well-being of people and society. as a whole. The objective of this new ESG Strategy is to multiply the positive impact that our activity, both insurance and healthcare, generates and contribute to improving people's lives, protecting them and taking care of their well-being and that of their environment. The new strategies will have weight in the three legs of the ESG; i.e. environmental, social and governance improvements. Are these aspects and areas that must go hand in hand to progress? Any sustainability strategy must be global and consider the three ESG areas. These three planes are closely related and health care and promotion, the central axis of the ASISA Group's activity, is a paradigmatic example of how they interact in everyday reality. Health is one of the most reliable indicators of social development and sustainability, and we believe that caring for the health of our societies is essential to create better opportunities and more growth. They have also established a calendar to meet the main ESG challenges. ASISA Group's ESG Strategy sets short (2025), medium (2030) and long-term (after 2030) goals. Moving a Group like ours is like turning a ship, so there are many tasks that start today, but the results do not begin to be seen until a few years have passed.. Therefore, we believe that it is a reasonable calendar that establishes acceptable time horizons to evaluate with perspective the fulfillment of our objectives, review our approaches and adapt our plans to the reality of each moment.
In that calendar, our key point will be 2030. It is when we expect to fully achieve the major objectives that we are now deploying, such as moving towards net zero emissions and reducing the consumption of resources; simplify access to high-quality healthcare; and promote our diversity and inclusion plans and reduce all employment gaps. Focusing on the company's workforce, they work in one direction: diversity and inclusion. Why is it so important today? Our society is increasingly diverse and we must focus on ensuring that all people have the opportunity to develop their talents and abilities. The ASISA Group is a large space in which more than 6,000 employees live together who deserve to work in the best possible conditions and develop satisfactory professional projects that allow them to fully deploy and expand their skills and knowledge, without any discrimination.
In this sense, we are committed to strengthening the presence of women in management positions and reducing the gender gap. To this end, we developed the “II Plan for equality between men and women” with the aim of eliminating possible forms of discrimination in the company, favoring the reconciliation of work, family and personal life and integrating the gender perspective in all processes of organization and management.
On the other hand, our objective in the horizon of 2025 is that employees have a personalized career plan; extend the social benefits program to the entire workforce; create teams of excellence; and develop training programs on ESG criteria. In the medium term, a system of incentives aligned with sustainability objectives will be developed and measures will be promoted to minimize the wage gap. Another key issue to be addressed in the medium term is the Group's energy efficiency. What difficulties do you think can be found in this field?In the environmental aspect, our commitment is to achieve carbon neutrality in 2025. To this end, the company will develop plans focused on improving energy efficiency at its facilities by 25% and controlling the most polluting equipment.
The great challenge is data traceability, something we are already working on, as well as the extension and dispersion of our care network, which has dozens of small and medium-sized facilities and 18 hospitals and 35 medical centers throughout the country. national. Converting them into centers that are as efficient as possible is a challenge that requires treating each establishment differently, in addition to a strong investment that we are already making.. In fact, we have already started with the first installation of solar panels in a new building that will allow us to save almost 30% in energy consumption.
In recent years, the ASISA Group has developed a plan for the renovation and expansion of its facilities that has already included criteria to improve energy efficiency, consume green energy, reduce the consumption of resources and waste generation, as well as promote models of circular economy. These investments have allowed the ASISA Group to reduce its carbon footprint by 75.5% since 2018; the use of energy from 100% renewable sources has prevented the emission into the atmosphere of almost 20,000 tons of CO2; The use of natural gas as fossil fuel has increased by 19.3% and water consumption has decreased by 15%. In order to materialize all these objectives, a new Sustainability Department has been created, which you will lead.. What will characterize the work of this new area? The Sustainability Department must be the heart of the new ESG Strategy of the ASISA Group. We cannot move our arms or legs, but we can channel energy and resources so that the different departments and business areas can move in the direction established by the Group. The work that we will carry out will be transversal, will affect multiple areas of the company, including those directly linked to the business of the ASISA Group, and will require the involvement of all employees.
The objective of the Sustainability Department is to promote the changes that are necessary for the ASISA Group to become a benchmark in terms of sustainability and to lead the development of a new corporate culture that reflects our company's commitment to sustainability in everything what do we do.