World Earth Day

Tokio Marine HCC employees completed an array of exciting volunteering, fundraising and educational activities to support World Earth Day on 22 April and to promote its environmental message. 

The first World Earth Day was held in the US in 1970. Today it’s a global event and Earth Day 2023 urged people to act boldly, innovate broadly, and implement equitably. Tokio Marine HCC teams in the UK, Europe and the US all got involved in a range of different events and activities. Here are some of the amazing things our people got up to. 

UK 

Team members got stuck into projects in London, Leicester and Bridgend. In London, 24 people volunteered at Stepney City Farm, a charity which keeps animals, grows food and hosts arts and crafts workshops. From mucking out the animal enclosures to laying new paving, there was lots to keep them busy!

In Leicester, some employees spent the day volunteering with Trees for Cities, revisiting a local nature reserve where they had volunteered a couple of years earlier. They cleared unwanted growth before straightening and re-staking the trees.  

Employees in Bridgend also chose to volunteer with Trees for Cities. They planted trees in the morning and made a gravel path in the afternoon. The trees are part of an ambitious 10-year programme of tree canopy expansion in Cardiff, linked to the city’s One Planet climate change strategy. 

As a company, we launched a national Fund a Tree campaign to plant 20 new trees in Tower Hamlets, London. The UK Charity Committee matching every employee contribution, up to £5,000. 

Luxembourg

Our TME Charity Committee invited Stéphane Van Haute, who is Head of Climate Adaptation and Communication at Friendship, to present details of the NGO’s Mangroves Reforestation Project to our Luxembourg office employees. The event was well-attended and explained how governments, NGOs and communities are working together in Bangladesh to protect and develop mangroves in the fight against flooding. 

France

Employees in France attended an in-person training day with Climate Fresk – a charity that provides specialist education around climate change. The nine team members who volunteered said the day was extremely interesting and informative, as well as being a great way to enjoy each other’s company in a more social setting. 

Spain

More than 40 members of the team in Spain spent a day volunteering in Llobregat Delta which is one of Catalonia’s most important wetland zones. It’s home to 20 natural habitats, which have been designated special areas of conservation by the EU. It’s also a designated GIBA - Global Important Bird Area. 

Our employees worked on restoration projects within the coastal pine forest and helped collect rubbish from the beach. 

US 

In partnership with non-profit organisation EarthShare Texas, we developed a challenge for our US employees. From 10 to 22 of April, participating employees across all our US business units used the EarthShare app to log weekly green actions within their everyday life. The team saved almost 30,000 kg of CO2 emissions, and more than 250,000 litres of water. 

We also hosted a virtual ‘lunch-n-learn’ session with EarthShare Texas, with guest speakers Professor Jay Maddock of Texas A&M University and Co-Director of the Center for Health & Nature. The team were interested to learn more about the benefits of nature and how spending time in nature can improve one’s health.

Next year…

More than one billion people, in more than 190 countries take part in World Earth Day. We were proud to play our part in 2023 as part of our ongoing environmental activities and have already started planning for 2024.