Swiss Life has joined with ten other major Swiss financial companies to set up the Swiss Climate Foundation. The Foundation promotes the improvement of energy efficiency by small and medium-sized companies in Switzerland.
The Swiss Climate Foundation is a non-profit organisation that invests in climate protection projects. Its aim is to support CO2 reduction and energy efficiency projects in small and medium-sized businesses in Switzerland, and use existing know-how to promote climate protection. The Foundation will also support the launch of new products, as well as specialised research and development.
The Foundation is funded using rebates from the CO2 tax received by its member companies. The CO2 levy on fossil fuels is part of Switzerland's commitment to the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gases.
While the tax revenue collected is redistributed to the public as a rebate on health insurance premiums, companies in Switzerland are reimbursed a proportion of the CO2 levy depending on the size of their payroll. The rebate model means that large service companies receive far higher rebates than they have paid in tax.
Member companies of the Swiss Climate Foundation have agreed to pool their excess rebates and allocate these funds to climate protection and energy efficiency projects. The main beneficiaries will be small and medium-sized companies, which are generally more affected by the CO2 levy than larger organisations.
The Swiss Climate Foundation includes in addition to Swiss Life other insurers like Allianz Switzerland, PartnerRe, Swiss Re, Vaudoise and XL Insurance, as well as PricewaterhouseCoopers, and banks as Pictet & Cie, Raiffeisen Group Switzerland, Sarasin and Vontobel.
Swiss Life has been actively engaged in climate protection and energy efficiency for many years. The company uses green power (naturemade star) generated by the sun, wind, biomass and water in Switzerland, and has appointed an Organisational Environment manager with the goal to systematically increase energy efficiency throughout the firm.
The Foundation is funded using rebates from the CO2 tax received by its member companies. The CO2 levy on fossil fuels is part of Switzerland's commitment to the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gases.
While the tax revenue collected is redistributed to the public as a rebate on health insurance premiums, companies in Switzerland are reimbursed a proportion of the CO2 levy depending on the size of their payroll. The rebate model means that large service companies receive far higher rebates than they have paid in tax.
Member companies of the Swiss Climate Foundation have agreed to pool their excess rebates and allocate these funds to climate protection and energy efficiency projects. The main beneficiaries will be small and medium-sized companies, which are generally more affected by the CO2 levy than larger organisations.
The Swiss Climate Foundation includes in addition to Swiss Life other insurers like Allianz Switzerland, PartnerRe, Swiss Re, Vaudoise and XL Insurance, as well as PricewaterhouseCoopers, and banks as Pictet & Cie, Raiffeisen Group Switzerland, Sarasin and Vontobel.
Swiss Life has been actively engaged in climate protection and energy efficiency for many years. The company uses green power (naturemade star) generated by the sun, wind, biomass and water in Switzerland, and has appointed an Organisational Environment manager with the goal to systematically increase energy efficiency throughout the firm.