Can you tell me about Naturesave and how you've been using One Planet Living?

Naturesave was founded by our Managing Director Matthew Criddle in 1993 to use the insurance industry as a vehicle for sustainable development. After the Exxon Valdez oil spill in the 80s, he realised that the insurance industry is liable for climate and environmental losses, so why not use it to make sustainable change?

Part of this involved establishing The Naturesave Trust. 10% of our premiums every year are fed into this trust, which then provides funding for conservation and environmental projects. It has supported 100s of organisations over the last two decades.

Another key way we promote sustainability is through our Environmental Performance Review programme, which has been running since 1996. Funded by The Naturesave Trust, this provides SMEs with a detailed analysis of how they can reduce their environmental impact and ensures they comply with the highest environmental standards.

Since its launch, we’ve helped over 150 business operate more sustainably and we started using Bioregional’s One Planet Living® framework in 2011 to guide the process.

What made you choose One Planet Living? What do you like about it?

When I first started doing these reviews 20 years ago, we were using a standard energy, waste and water audit process. It was a very technical format and I had a feeling that things were sitting on people’s computers and not being read!

Our founder and director Matthew discovered One Planet Living through his connection with Pooran Desai, one of your co-founders, and thought it could help us. I took the framework and integrated it into our process, trialling it with a few businesses.

Using One Planet Living makes it so much easier to engage people. The fact that it’s broken down into the 10 easy-to-understand principles means there’s always something that resonates with their business operations – from zero carbon energy to land and nature. Our clients also like that there are clear goals and guidance attached to the framework, so they know what’s expected of them.

Many businesses we meet don’t actually realise just how much they are already doing. One Planet Living’s process means they start to gather this information together and get a much better picture of what they’ve achieved and where they can go next.

What are your favourite ways that your clients have engaged with One Planet Living?

The One Planet Living framework has been used for many different purposes that go above and beyond measuring sustainable progress – especially as a communication tool. Some have used the framework for funding bids, one client included it in a sales pack for his business and others have used the framework for their AGMs and investor reports.

I worked with a wine bar in London that used the results from its review to tell stories of sustainable change on social media – like how it was recycling used wine bottles into plates for its restaurant.

What are your future plans?

Over the last 20 years, we’ve made sure our Environmental Performance Review continues to evolve in line with a changing world - for example, helping businesses meet the 2015 Paris Agreement targets, and operate in-line with science-based targets, rooted in climate science.

We’re now focusing on making things more digital and interactive so that their reports are easier to share and more accessible. I’ve been using oneplanet.com to help our review process and I plan on encouraging clients to publish their plans on the platform.

So, we’re very much going to continue promoting the One Planet Living framework as widely as possible and helping businesses achieve their sustainability aims and saving money and resources and celebrating success along the way!

Now it's your turn

Like what you've read? Want to give One Planet Living a go?

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