With the Sustainability Report on the 2017 financial year we are publishing annual information on social, environmental and governance topics within the Group for the seventh consecutive time. Our Sustainability Report was drawn up in accordance with the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) as well as the Financial Services Sector Disclosures. This report has been compiled in conformity with the GRI Standards: Core option. With a view to satisfying the information requirements of our stakeholders and the rating agencies as comprehensively as possible, we are providing additional information above and beyond this framework. The reporting period is from 1 January to 31 December 2017. Significant developments in 2018 have been included up until the editorial deadline in August 2018. Unless otherwise indicated, the particulars refer to the entire Group. Our last Sustainability Report was published in October 2017. Further information on the topic of sustainability is published in the course of the year on our website and as a regular part of the Group Annual Report.

The report was submitted for the GRI Materiality Disclosures Service and GRI has confirmed the correctness of the locations of the disclosure labels. The report has not been externally audited.

The present Sustainability Report reflects the issues and challenges of sustainable development that are material to our company. It takes into account the requirements of stakeholders who are of major significance to our company. The fundamental principles on which the report is based are materiality, the inclusion of stakeholders, the sustainability context and comprehensiveness. A materiality analysis was carried out in 2014 in order to identify the issues most relevant to our company.

Survey methods and calculation bases for the data

Unless otherwise stated, we report on our activities Group-wide.

Until 2015 inclusive the Group-wide headcount refers only to employees working at Group companies allocable to the operational insurance business. From 2016 onwards the employees of all companies included in the financial statement of the Hannover Re Group are counted. For this reason, the Group-wide employee numbers for 2016 are only comparable with those of previous years to a limited extent. The designation "employee" refers solely to employees of the Hannover Re Group, not subcontractors or freelance workers.

The stated environmental indicators refer to the Hannover location (degree of coverage: 42.6 % of the worldwide workforce). We use data collected internally from various departments as well as consumption data contained in the bills received from our electricity and district heating supplier.

For the purpose of calculating our CO₂ emissions from business travel we adopt the calculation methods of our offset provider "atmosfair" and of Deutsche Bahn AG. We establish the CO₂ savings from the use of videoconferences by internal calculations and estimates.

In order to make the report more easily readable we have avoided gender-specific duplications and instead used the masculine form throughout.