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December 30, 2022

Carbon offsetting helps the environment, communities and Sun Life

For years, Sun Life has been working to reduce emissions in its operations. We buy high-quality carbon credits to compensate for the remaining emissions in our operations we have yet to reduce.

This approach of buying carbon credits is not part of our enterprise decarbonization strategy, but is one way to help manage our climate impact while we work towards net-zero emissions. As of December 31, 2021, annual emissions associated with Sun Life's global operations amounted to about 18,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. That amount includes emissions from corporate offices, data centers and corporate travel.

Carbon offsetting allows companies and people to fund projects worldwide that prevent or remove harmful greenhouse gasses (GHGs) from the atmosphere. The GHG emission reductions achieved by these projects generate verified carbon credits. Companies and people can buy these credits and apply them against their emissions to reduce their net climate impact.

2021 marked our first concerted offset purchase. We worked with Climate Impact Partners (formerly Natural Capital Partners), a specialist in carbon market solutions for climate action, to identify suitable projects. Climate Impact Partners evaluates the sustainable development benefits of carbon finance projects through a robust, proprietary framework. In addition, Sun Life created its own framework for evaluating the quality and alignment of our carbon offsetting projects to our sustainability plan.

We selected projects based on the following considerations:

  • carbon removal vs. carbon reduction and avoidance
  • geography
  • carbon standard
  • permanency
  • unique claim and additionality (assurance that the project would not have occurred without climate finance through offset credit sales)
  • other factors

Ultimately, we selected four projects to support, two of which are highlighted below. The resulting offsets were independently verified to leading international standards and enabled Sun Life to achieve CarbonNeutral®1 company certification2. Besides the environmental advantages, the projects we support also have social benefits and contribute to the delivery of many UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Climate change presents an urgent challenge. Carbon offsetting provides a source of funding to much-needed sustainable development initiatives around the world and can assist companies like Sun Life as they work towards net zero. However, reducing our own emissions is always the primary focus, and the path to true net zero.

Key benefits:

  • Provides a cleaner, more sustainable fuel source for cooking that replaces wood fuel and reduces indoor air pollution.
  • Biodigesters help dispose of household waste and remove the sanitation problems from previously used waste pits. Creates community jobs in manufacturing, distribution and installation of stoves and biodigesters.
  • Engages local communities to improve food security, income opportunities, health care and education, all with the support of carbon finance .

This project contributes to the following SDGs: #1 No Poverty, #2 Zero Hunger, #3 Good Health and Well-Being, #6 Clean Water Sanitation, #7 Affordable Energy, #8 Decent Work and Economic Growth, #9 Industry Innovation, and #13 Climate Action

Key benefits:

  • Focuses on both community development for 2,500 households living in the area and biodiversity conservation. In particular, 105,000 endangered Borneo orangutans are protected.
  • Delivers emissions reductions. It’s the first project validated to have contributed to all 17 SDGs by Sustainable Development Verified Impact Standard.
  • Engages local communities to improve food security, income opportunities, health care and education, all with the support of carbon finance.

This project contributes to all 17 SDGs: #1 No Poverty, #2 Zero Hunger, #3 Good Health and Well-Being, #4 Quality Education, #5 Gender Equality, #6 Clean Water Sanitation, #7 Affordable Energy, #8 Decent Work and Economic Growth, #9 Industry Innovation, #10 Reduced Inequalities, #11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, #12 Responsible Consumption and Production, #13 Climate Action, #14 Life Below Water, #15 Life on Land, #16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, and #17 Partnerships for the Goals

1 CarbonNeutral® is a registered trademark of Climate Impact Partners and is achieved in accordance with The CarbonNeutral Protocol, the leading global framework for carbon neutrality.

2 Climate Impact Partners’ proprietary framework required that we include estimates for additional emissions sources and follow a methodology that in combination brought total emissions to be offset to achieve certification to 23,958.6 tCO2e.

Sun Life is one of the 2020 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World.