The air we breathe, the food we eat, the noise we hear when we sleep or the stress and pollution of our cities affects us more than we think. Individual healthy behaviors and habits lose momentum if carried out in sick and polluted environments. In fact, several investigations corroborate that the place where a person resides directly affects their body and mind.
Health is no longer solely related to biological or genetic factors . Factors such as lifestyle and environment also influence, which can end up leading to the appearance of new infectious agents such as the one responsible for the current health crisis, Covid-19.
The World Health Organization itself, WHO, estimates that 24% of the global burden of disease and 23% of mortality are attributable to environmental factors . Countries, however, spend 95% of their budgets on the health system, but only 1% on the environment.
The climate emergency is currently seen as a real threat in which survival itself is at stake
The climate emergency is, for all this, one of the great concerns that keeps the entire planet on alert . Wildlife areas have been reduced, natural resources have been overexploited and live animals have been traded to the point that this has been the source of the current coronavirus outbreak.
Precisely, this global pandemic has aroused a certain fear that, in turn, is generating a greater reaction to the climate crisis . This emergency is seen as a real threat in which the very survival of species, including humans, is at stake. “If the planet is sick, we are too. It makes no sense to look at human health without paying attention to the state of the environment where this person lives ”, points out Josep Santacreu, CEO of DKV.
In other words, climate change is an urgent challenge that poses a complex challenge, but is viable if cooperation between governments, companies and citizens is achieved. The cause is global and priority. Currently, climate change affects, directly or indirectly, health in different ways. This crisis is responsible for new heat waves, floods or earthquakes; but also of possible modifications in the patterns of diseases transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks or of the increase in diseases transmitted by water. All of this causes a high number of deaths per year throughout the world.
Climate-positive company
Achieving a healthier society happens, then, by having a diverse and healthy environment. It is in everyone's hands, but the role of large companies is crucial . Companies must be a real part of the solutions. This is how the DKV insurance company understands it, which strives every day to achieve a healthier world. A challenge, insists Santacreu, "stimulating, which can only be faced with a lot of internal energy -which we have-, with many levels of cooperation -governments, companies, NGOs-, and the courage and collaboration of citizens".
For this reason, since 2004 DKV has measured its carbon footprint, it is ZeroCO2, has reduced its emissions by more than 80%, uses electricity from 100% renewable energy sources and has incorporated the environmental discourse into its products and services. This is the case of Ecofuneral, a pioneering death policy that watches over the trace of a person's last step . In the same way, they have ecological home insurance that ensures the quality of the indoor air in the repairs.
But its strategy also embraces more social initiatives that help the population understand that every action counts, such as the Health and Environment Observatory, tree plantations with volunteers or the Plant for the Planet academies, where almost 400 children have been trained. .
Since 2004, DKV has measured its carbon footprint and has reduced its emissions by more than 80%. It is ZeroCO2, it uses electricity from 100% renewable energy sources and it has incorporated the environmental discourse in products and services, such as the Ecofuneral
Within its 2030 Commitments , it sets itself the goal of being the Spanish health insurance and services company that contributes the most to reducing the impact of climate change on people's health and that of the planet by 2030.
The firm wants to be the first climate-positive insurer in the country and its objectives and challenges for the next ten years demonstrate this because, for DKV, it makes no sense to take care of human health without also paying attention to the environment.
“Planeta Salud” is the company's strategy against climate change –which defines itself as a health activist- and which, among its fundamental objectives, seeks to range from offsetting all emissions generated since its creation in 1932 to calculating and reducing those generated by its stakeholders.
They also commit to plant at least 1 million trees by 2030 ; introduce the climatic impact and the environmental vector in the calculation of the risk of their health insurance; develop innovative products, solutions and services in the face of climate change; promote entrepreneurs and startups that work on environmental health solutions; support science in the dissemination of research on the impact of climate change on health; combat misinformation and fake news about science, health and climate change; and setting environmental and climate targets for all DKV managers.
With “Planeta Salud”, DKV's strategy against climate change, the company is committed to planting one million trees by 2030
The fight against climate change moves and influences each of the steps in a society that has realized that the time has come to profoundly change certain practices . And the problem is already on the table, "we are risking what kind of planet we will have in the future," recalls Santacreu.
Demonstrating greater respect for nature is part of the commitments to be followed both by individuals and by governments and organizations. The new Climate Change Law of 2022 will further reinforce the need for all of us to reduce, compensate and achieve positive impacts. Only in this way will it be possible to stop climate change and improve environmental health and, consequently, people's health.