The responsibility for change begins with us – Human Resources

We live in a time full of many challenges that I believe must be met with hope, but at the same time with a spirit of initiative.

Written by Joana Quiroz Ribeiro, Director of People and Organization at Fidelidad

Unfortunately, we continue to witness a warming of our planet, the pollution and destruction of our resources, and the degradation of nature. We are seeing inequalities worsen, both in access to basic goods, such as water, and in access to education and health, as climate change puts the right of millions of children to a safe, quality education at risk, especially in countries considered to be at very high risk. . At the same time, we face energy and economic crises, and in different regions of the world we observe wars that seem to have no end…

Given this scenario, we cannot continue to ignore these crises and their various social challenges within organizations. It saddens me that we are constantly interrupting our future with political and fundamentalist issues that prevent us from looking at the world and all of these issues through the lens of humanity and closeness. Ultimately, the effects of crises must be experienced through the authentic gaze of others – the gaze that creates empathy, closeness, and action – which we sorely lack. I believe this simple, but important, attitude is within everyone's reach.

I believe that the responsibility for change begins with us, from you and me, from various governmental organizations and institutions. If each of us, individually, does our part, together we will be able to reverse this negative trend that we are currently observing.

At Fidelidad Group, committed to change towards a more sustainable world, we want to continue making a difference in the four continents where we operate: Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. We will continue to work, within and outside the Group, to improve the lives of our employees, our customers, society at large and the planet.

Despite this rather dramatic picture that I describe, it is with great pride and hope that I can say that we are the second most sustainable insurance company in Europe and the fourth most sustainable in the world, according to Morningstar Sustainalytics' ESG rating. At national level, we are the best organization in the banking and insurance sector and the second most sustainable Portuguese company, considering all sectors of economic activity.

With a rating of 11.7 (considered low risk), this assessment, conducted by an external company, allows us to measure our performance and commitment to sustainability. Furthermore, it enables continuous improvement of our business, and thus our impact on people and the world. This figure clearly reflects the path taken by the Fidelidade Group, our commitment to sustainable development and the positive impact we already have on our people, our customers, our partners, our society and our planet.

Above all, it allows us to glimpse what we still have to do, because our focus is on people of the present and the future, and people of all ages.

This article was published in the January issue (No. 157) of Human Resources magazine, on newsstands.