The French insurer Axa announced on Monday the signing of an agreement with the Spanish operator of solar panels Ignis for the purchase of the equivalent of the group’s electricity needs in Europe for the next ten years.
The insurer undertakes to “purchase 90% of the electricity” produced by a solar plant in Andalusia, in the south of Spain, “whose construction will begin soon, with the aim of being operational by May 2025,” says a note from press. This quota will represent 84 gigawatts/hour or “the electricity consumption of the buildings and data centers of the European entities” of Axa, the document completes. Europe represents three quarters of Axa’s energy consumption worldwide.
Less than 1% of the group’s carbon footprint
This action presented as having a “significant” environmental impact by the group’s director of operations, Alexander Vollert, is linked to the direct emissions of the insurer. But energy consumption represents less than 1% of the Axa group’s total carbon footprint, of some 5.1 million tons of CO2 equivalent last year, according to its climate report published last Thursday. Investments represent 98% of the total.
The insurer also announced last Thursday new climate goals for 2030, regarding its investments and its insurance activity but without new commitments in oil and gas, without convincing NGOs. Halved since 2019, carbon emissions from group activities increased by 33% last year compared to 2021, to 112,728 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
Source: BFM TV
