Sustainability at Visana: what we are doing

Corporate sustainability at V⁠i⁠s⁠a⁠n⁠a

Sustainability is an important part of V⁠i⁠s⁠a⁠n⁠a’s corporate strategy. We take responsibility for the environment, society and the economy.

For us, ‘corporate sustainability’ is an umbrella term for our commitment to the environment, social affairs and the economy. It is an area where we act in a sustainable, transparent and impact-oriented manner – in the interests of our staff, our customers and society as a whole.

As a modern company, V⁠i⁠s⁠a⁠n⁠a assumes responsibility for the environment, its workforce and society at large. Climate change and its effects, including those on health, are directly impacting our business model. Doing nothing is therefore not an option for V⁠i⁠s⁠a⁠n⁠a.

Our action areas

Environment: favouring digital solutions

As an insurer, our business model is less energy- and resource-intensive than in other sectors of the economy. Nevertheless, as a modern company, we ensure that resources are used responsibly and sustainably in all our business activities. In particular, climate change and its effects on health directly impact our business model. We focus on the following areas:

energy consumption and CO₂ emissions
resources and circular economy
biodiversity and mobility

Activities related to energy consumption and emissions focus on playing our part in limiting global warming, in accordance with the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

In concrete terms: our targets

On our journey of transition, we aim to be operating our business premises with zero CO₂ emissions by 2032. We also aim to reduce upstream and downstream CO₂ emissions by 50 percent. Later on, by 2040, we want to reduce these by 90 percent and to offset the remaining emissions by supporting climate projects.

Social affairs: acting as a role model

We see V⁠i⁠s⁠a⁠n⁠a as a modern employer with a clear responsibility towards staff. For our policyholders, we are striving to further the development of our healthcare system by focusing on integrated care. We ensure that our contracts with service providers and partners are financially sound and fair. We deliberately gear our social outreach activities towards health promotion and the reinforcement of regional roots, so as to be close to people.

Economy: profit is not everything

We are also committed to economic sustainability. Here, we consistently integrate aspects of sustainability, as we see our environment-related activities as business opportunities. This is the case, for example, wherever we expect added economic value to arise alongside environmental and social aspects, such as in digitalisation or product management. To this end, we establish sustainability indicators and incorporate these into our decision-making.

In managing our financial assets, we focus on responsible investment and thus strive to meet the requirements of the Paris Climate Accords regarding net-zero emissions. We integrate ESG aspects, exercise shareholder and voting rights and have our investment portfolio externally audited with regard to sustainability requirements.

Everything under one roof

The corporate sustainability policy adopted by our Board of Directors at the start of 2024 is still in place. It can be depicted as a house with three pillars.

How we put sustainability into practice at V⁠i⁠s⁠a⁠n⁠a

Sustainability is always a consideration, as the refurbishment of our headquarters shows, for example, with our use of environmentally compatible building materials and furniture.

Mediamatics is a career of the future. Everyone at V⁠i⁠s⁠a⁠n⁠a supports and involves me. Even though I’m still a trainee, I’ve still been contributing fully from the word go, am a full member of the team and attend courses for my development. I enjoy talking to other V⁠i⁠s⁠a⁠n⁠a trainees and pursuing my interests in photography, design and communication in this exciting environment.

We take responsibility. That’s one reason why we have regular external audits of the sustainability of our capital investments. We’re planning to further step up our efforts in this area going forwards.