Ping An Releases 2022 Sustainability Report Reveals Roadmap to Achieve Carbon Neutrality Goal

(Hong Kong, Shanghai, March 28, 2023) - Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. ("Ping An" or the "Group", HKEx:2318; SSE:601318) has published its 2022 Sustainability Report. The Group's 14th annual sustainability report includes its 3rd report using the international Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework to identify and assess climate-related risks and opportunities for the business. This year, the sustainability report also outlines Ping An's roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality and covers the Group's innovation and practices for sustainable development in 2022.

New Sustainable Development Committee and improved ESG governance

In 2022, Ping An improved ESG governance structure and set up a Sustainable Development Committee to coordinate the management of core issues, including green finance, green operations and rural revitalization.

A roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality in operations by 2030

In 2022, Ping An launched a carbon inventory to measure carbon emissions in the Group's operations and build a low-carbon roadmap. The Group took reference from international best practices in carbon neutrality strategy. The roadmap to achieve its goal to achieve carbon neutrality in operations by 2030 prioritizes energy saving, purchasing green power, investing in renewable energy power generation facilities, and carbon emissions trading.

In 2022, Ping An's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the workplace was approximately 322,670 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent (tCO2e), an average 0.95 tCO2e per person, a 23% and 21% decrease year-on-year (YoY) respectively. In particular:

Scope 1 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions - emissions from sources that are controlled or owned Ping An - were 2,818 tCO2e, a 54% decrease YoY;
Scope 2 GHG emissions, from purchased electricity, were 285,891 tCO2e, a 24% decrease YoY;
Scope 3 GHG emissions from paper consumption and employee traveling were 39,761 tCO2e, a 18% decrease YoY.

As of the end of December 2022, 19 of Ping An's building projects, including the Shenzhen Ping An Financial Center, were awarded domestic and foreign green building certifications. In 2022, the Ping An Guanlan No.3 Data Center project received the LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council and was the first financial data center with Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) lower than 1.25 in China.

"Finance for People", with "integrated finance + healthcare"

Ping An has aspired to service the national economy and the livelihood of the people. Its concept of "Finance for People" is about supporting the people's aspiration for a better life. Ping An's integrated finance model of "one customer, multiple products, and one-stop services" provides diverse products and convenient services to nearly 227 million retail customers and over 693 million internet users. It also provides integrated financial services to its corporate business to meet different customers' needs.

Ping An launched an innovative Chinese "managed care model", seamlessly combining differentiated healthcare services with financial services. It created three core service models to provide one-stop medical, health and elderly care services: "Insurance + Health management", "Insurance + Home-based elderly care", and "Insurance + High-end elderly care".

As of December 31, 2022, Ping An had nearly 4,000 in-house doctors and over 45,000 contracted external doctors as well as six proprietary 3A/tier-3 hospitals in China. Ping An has also partnered with over 10,000 hospitals - including all top 100 hospitals and 3A hospitals, over 100,000 healthcare management institutions, and approximately 224,000 pharmacies. More than 65% of Ping An's 693 million internet users used services from the healthcare ecosystem. Nearly 64% of Ping An's nearly 227 million retail customers used services from the healthcare ecosystem. As of the end of 2022, more than 145 million customers used medical and health services, and home-based elderly care services covered 32 cities in China.

Responsible investment, banking and sustainable insurance

Ping An's responsible investment principles include integration of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors in decision making and being an active shareholder, using its influence to guide invested businesses to improve ESG performance. In 2022, Ping An participated in over 120 shareholder meetings for strategic investment projects. There was a total of 10 proposals involving ESG-related issues. As of the end of 2022, the scale of Ping An's responsible investment and financing reached RMB1.79 trillion, up 47% YoY. Green investment and financing was recorded RMB 282.363 billion; inclusive investment and financing reached RMB33.44 billion; and social investment and financing was RMB1.48 trillion. The scale of responsible investment of Ping An's insurance funds reached RMB804.7 billion, accounting for 18% of the total insurance funds investment.

In terms of responsible banking, Ping An has integrated green, social and inclusive sustainable development concepts in its credit and other financing businesses, and incorporated ESG factors into pre-lending, lending and post-lending management. As of December 31, 2022, the scale of Ping An's responsible banking was approximately RMB1.10 trillion, an increase of 124% YoY. The size of green banking was RMB 182.89 billion; the size of inclusive banking was nearly RMB653.43 billion; and the size of social banking was about RMB262.15 billion.

In sustainable insurance, Ping An promotes the development of various social and inclusive protection products to offer more comprehensive health and life protection for vulnerable and special care groups and new urban citizens. As of December 31, 2022, Ping An's sustainable insurance premiums exceeded RMB545.55 billion, an increase of 4.6% year-over-year. According to the "Green Finance Guidelines for the Banking and Insurance Industry" issued by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) in 2022, the premium income of green insurance was recorded RMB 25.105 billion in 2022; the premium income of inclusive insurance reached RMB29.49 billion; and the premium income of social insurance reached nearly RMB490.95 billion.

Upgraded green finance services

In 2022, Ping An actively supported China's carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals with the development and upgrading of green insurance products and services. As of the end of 2022:

green investment and financing reached more than RMB282.3 billion, a 26% increase YoY
green banking, which includes green credit, green bonds, green trusts, green leases and green asset securitization, was RMB182.1 billion. Among which, green credit was more than RMB 116.4 billion, a recorded 30% increase year-on-year
According to the "Green Finance Guidelines for the Banking and Insurance Industry" issued by CBIRC in 2022, Ping An's green premiums of exceeded RMB 25.1 billion

Rural revitalization in industry, education and healthcare

Ping An has run its Rural Communities Support Program since 2018 for the revitalization of industry, education and healthcare. Ping An has provided cumulative funding for poverty alleviation and industrial revitalization of RMB77.15 billion. For education, Ping An supported teaching in multiple areas and donated educational equipment. As of December 31, 2022, Ping An contributed to the construction of 119 Hope Primary Schools and donated to 1,054 Smart Primary Schools. There were approximately 570,000 employees and agents working as volunteers for Ping An, giving more than 370,000 hours, including 3,592 hours in 2022 alone. In healthcare, Ping An provided mobile physical exams and free clinic activities. In 2022, Ping An carried out eight mobile physical exam events and free clinic activities. Its health public welfare services covered 1,150 person-times, and free online diagnosis services in rural areas covered more than 750,000 person-times.

Investment in an excellent corporate culture and employee training

Ping An formulated the Policy Statement on Employee Rights of Ping An Group to safeguard the rights of employees and create an inclusive and harmonious workplace. Ping An ranked fifth in the global insurance sector and first among Chinese financial companies on Forbes' World's Best Employers 2022.

The Group ensured equal opportunities for employees in recruitment, remuneration, benefits, promotion and other employment matters, promoting equality and diversity within the Group. As of the end of December 2022, Ping An's had 344,223 employees, more than 50% of which are female. In order to encourage core personnel to serve the Group on a long-term basis, Ping An launched the Key Employees Stock Ownership Plan and Long-term Service Plan, with 1,703 key employees participating. To support employees' development, Ping An collaborated with over 50 education institutions to offer a wide range of high quality training programs. As of the end of 2022, Ping An had developed 77,000 online courses with a total annual attendance of over 44.54 million, and delivered face-to-face and livestreamed training sessions to 127,000 employees. During the year, training hours per employee averaged 40.8 hours.

In 2022, Ping An sustained its people-centered and customer-oriented philosophy, strengthening its financial services and expanding its coverage. Looking ahead, Ping An will continue to pursue its dual-focus strategy of "integrated finance + healthcare" empowered by technology, with persistence and diligence. Ping An strives to maximize value for customers, employees, shareholders and society, by maintaining positive business performance and fulfilling its social responsibilities.

The report was compiled in accordance with the Environmental, Social and Governance Reporting Guide of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited and by reference to the Guidelines on Environmental Information Disclosure for Financial Institutions in Shenzhen, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Standards, as well as the Sustainability Accounting Standards on Commercial Banks, Insurance and Asset Management & Custody Activities published by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Certified Public Accountants (LLP) has carried out an independent third-party assurance on the Report. To access full report, please click here.

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Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd. published this content on 28 March 2023 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 28 March 2023 07:22:51 UTC.