ClimateWise 2010 Case Study: QBE CRES Procurement

ClimateWise Principle 5: Reduce the environmental impact of our business:

• Encourage our suppliers to improve the sustainability of their products and
services

QBE recognises its role in environmental management extends beyond merely managing consumption.
Through its procurement management process, QBE seeks to influence the sustainability of products
and services used. Consolidation of Corporate Real Estate Services (CRES) procurement process over
recent years has been accompanied by the development and implementation of procedures for
evaluation of issues relating to sustainability during the procurement process. Sustainability is now a
formal element of QBE Corporate Real Estate Services’ tender process for suppliers to UK offices.

Initially sustainability criteria and/or requirements were individually inserted into tender documents on an
informal or bespoke basis:

• Since 2008 our travel service manager has been required to report defined service level
information on a monthly basis to facilitate corporate environmental management, including
calculation and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions associated with business travel.
• Since 2008, all office paper used in the UK has been produced by an ISO 14001 certified
company and is made using pulp from FSC certified ‘mixed sources’ – well managed forests
and other controlled sources.

Contracts for provision of services to all UK offices – ‘umbrella suppliers’, such as; cleaners, security
and engineers are subject to QBE’s ‘full tender process’, which, in addition to requiring compliance with
legislation and QBE’s health, safety, security and environmental policies, now requires provision and
consideration of sustainability issues such as CSR, environmental accreditation and health and safety.
This procedure has recently been applied to the selection process for products such as office furniture
(2009/10) and is currently being applied to the selection of high volume print supplier.

• An ISO 14001 certified company is now established as our preferred supplier of office furniture
and has provided all furniture purchased by QBE since 2005, including furniture for our offices
in France, Hungary and the UK. Our supplier demonstrated the environmental performance of
its products by reference to international environmental assessment methodologies such as
BREEAM, LEED and Green Star which credit performance with regard to resource use e.g.
responsible sourcing of materials / recycled content / readily renewable materials and low VOC
emissions e.g. use of water based varnishes and minimisation of formaldehyde.

Sustainability factors are a defined element within the scoring of tenders, with tenders selected on the
basis of overall performance against defined criteria. The procurement process is formally documented,
with benefits, including those related to sustainability recorded within the ‘Recommendation of award of
contract’ document.