Growing with the green economy … and dinner with James Bond
A conversation with David Schofield,
Sustainability Director at Aviva.
We recently had the privilege to speak to David Schofield, Sustainability Director at Aviva, for a true dive deep into the evolving world of ESG( Environmental, Social, and Governance) and its impact on the financial sector. David unpacks why that gap exists, what Aviva is doing to lead the charge, and how advisers can tap into this emerging opportunity.
David, tell us a little bit about your role at Aviva.
DS: I’ m the Sustainability Director at Aviva, it’ s my task to look at our environmental, social governance and ambition, and then to line the business up to make sure we deliver against all those, across all the different things we do, from protection, to pensions, to investments and of course the general insurance area of the business.
But I also have another cap I wear; I ' m currently the Chair of the United Nations Global Compact Network here in the UK. Which is the largest network of organisations committed to responsible business on the planet. So I’ m really interested in helping businesses right up and down the UK, to run themselves as sustainable as possible and to use that as a lever of growth.
And, could you tell us an interesting fact about yourself?
DS: There ' s too many to choose from, so I’ ll say … I had dinner with James Bond.
So, tell us about sustainability, and what it means for Aviva?
DS: Well, Aviva is over 320 some years old, we were effectively birthed out of the Great Fire of London. Our company was founded on the understanding that we’ re all connected to each other, and the issues that we’ re facing, both challenges and opportunities are all connected, and really we are very much part and parcel of the communities that we live and work in, and the economy that we run our businesses in.
Because of this, we absolutely have a vested interest in making sure we have the very best environment to live and work in, both now and in the future. And as a 328 year old company, we ' re thinking about that long future too. Basically, we want to be here in another 328 years.
So those big issues that impact our business and economy, things like climate change, things like social issues to do with financial inclusion and resilience. We ' re constantly looking at how we manage the risks associated with these, and actually, how do we flip that and say there ' s some huge business opportunities here, growing with the green economy. We’ re helping provide great choices for customers, who we know from all the data collected, want to at least do no harm, and ideally do some good with their everyday decision making. So it ' s a huge agenda and a huge opportunity for Aviva.
April 2025 | 7