FRIENDS PROVIDENT, founded in 1832 to provide life assurance for the Society of Friends, better known as Quakers, has always been aware of its social responsibilities. You would not find it investing in armaments, alcohol, tobacco or pornography.

But as the financial services market has become more competitive, the company has been forced to broaden its investments and look at less likely businesses, especially ones with strong ecological and corporate responsibility programmes, including some in the petrochemical industry.

Friends Provident has also expanded its work in these fields, encouraging links with the community, promoting responsible selling of life and pensions policies and introducing flexible working.

Ashley Taylor, a senior manager, leads the corporate responsibility programme and reports to a steering committee that includes the heads of the facilities, human resources, IT and asset management teams.

At the same time, the company, whose headquarters is in Dorking, Surrey, has introduced environmentally friendly measures, cutting waste and using paper produced only from sustainable forests and which can be recycled. It has encouraged staff to save energy in obvious ways such as switching off lights and computers when they have finished work.

The company has also started buying a proportion of its energy from renewable sources, initially from wind farms and most recently from hydroelectric power, and that has reduced its carbon emissions by half over the past two years. All this has made Friends Provident an obvious choice as a carbon champion.

Taylor says: “The Carbon Trust understands how much social responsibility matters to Friends Provident and this will help us develop a more systematic plan for organising carbon emissions.

“Everything we have done so far has been on an ad hoc basis. The scoping exercises with consultants and the Carbon Trust will give us a better feel for what can be done across the company.”

Taylor says that climate change is “arguably the biggest issue facing the world today” and presents a risk to property and insurers, while escalating energy prices make cutting consumption essential.

Taylor adds: “Being a carbon champion is vital for us. The consultants and the Carbon Trust will be able to tell us what actions to take, what investment to make and what the payback will be.”