Standard Life sustainability score: 34/100
Standard Life plc is a UK-based life insurance, pensions, and investment management company managing £300bn in assets for 12 million customers. Founded in 1825 and headquartered in Edinburgh, it serves primarily institutional and retail retirement savings markets.
More about Standard Life
The company merged with Phoenix Group in 2019.
Founded 1825Head office United KingdomStaff ~6,431 (2015)Revenue ~£5.5BWebsite ↗
Standard Life discloses operational emissions with 81% absolute cuts since 2019, but portfolio decarbonization targets intensity only—not absolute financed emissions. Fossil exposure is unquantified and unverified. Governance gaps include missing SBTi validation and no disclosed executive pay linkage to sustainability.
Standard Life scores 34/100 (Below expectations) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Companies can never pay for anything about their own score. Last verified August 2026.
That places Standard Life joint 565th of 934 companies scored, and 12th of 17 in Insurance.
Limited evidence. This score rests on 11 sources, 82% of them published by the company itself. Every source cited here passed the same quality checks as any other score: all live, none from data aggregators. There is simply less of it.
What is Standard Life doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Energy Source and Carbon Footprint: Operations (8/10, 6/10). Weakest on Carbon Footprint: Supply Chain and Resource Use & Waste (2/10, 3/10).
Where Standard Life lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
- Emissions from its own operations6/10Its own emissions aren't independently verified or tracked over several years.
- Emissions from its supply chain2/10No assessment of where its supply-chain emissions come from.
- Whether its emissions are falling5/10No evidence of a year-on-year fall in its total emissions.
- How clean its energy is8/10Its own operations aren't shown to run on 100% renewable energy.
- Its effect on nature4/10Its effect on nature isn't measured or independently verified.
- How it uses materials and handles waste3/10No active waste reduction, reuse or repair shown.
- Its effect on water3/10No monitoring of water use, or no measures to reduce it.
- Its climate targets4/10Its targets aren't science-based or committed to the Science Based Targets initiative.
- How openly it reports6/10No annual impact report, or no pay linked to climate targets.
- Its record on controversies5/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Standard Life's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleHas Standard Life's score changed?
Standard Life's score has moved from 37 to 34 across 2 recorded reviews, down 3 points.
- 37 → 34-330 August 2026
Rescore 37→34 (promote-refresh, frozen base 55)
- Scored 372 August 2026
Initial public score 37 (publish-draft)
What evidence is Standard Life's score based on?
11 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
82% of them were published by Standard Life itself; the rest come from independent sources.
This score was refreshed in August 2026. It moved from 37 to 34 because the company was re-scored under a revised methodology (v2.5.7) with a stricter sourcing standard: citations drawn from data aggregators were removed and every remaining source was re-checked against the original document. Several answers scored lower once only directly verifiable evidence was counted. The sector base impact is unchanged, and the conservative emissions multiplier applied here — used where no sourced company emissions figure could be retrieved — is the same as before. The movement reflects the strength of the evidence, not a new finding against the company.
Limited data coverage. This assessment is based on 11 sources, 82% of which are self-reported by the company. Scores may change as independent evidence becomes available.
“Phoenix Group Holdings plc Sustainability Report 2024”
“Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions declined by 12 percent year-on-year in 2025, while emissions intensity per employee improved from 0.34 tCO2e to 0.28 tCO2e.”
“81% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 operational emissions versus our 60% target, well ahead of a net zero trajectory.”
“We will reduce the carbon intensity of our listed equity and credit assets by 25% where we can exercise control and influence.”
“We strengthened our approach to nature by expanding company research and engagement on nature related topics, including biodiversity, deforestation and water scarcity.”
“The plan broadens beyond carbon, reflecting an integrated approach that incorporates nature, just transition and adaptation and resilience.”
“Waste and recycling – We will implement sustainable waste management practices including reducing the amount of single use plastics.”
“SBTi or the UN Race to Zero campaign.”
“Find out more about our sustainability strategy and ambitious targets. We've also published a separate data appendix.”
“The 2024 Scorecard on Insurance, Climate Change, and the Energy Transition, assessing the 30 global (re)insurers on their fossil fuel policies.”
“To protect against greenwashing, it introduced an anti-greenwashing rule which reinforces that sustainability-related claims must be fair, clear, and not misleading.”
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How does Standard Life compare with other insurance companies?
Where Standard Life sits among insurance peers.
Among the 17 major insurance brands we've scored, Standard Life sits 12th of 17.
Who scores higher in Insurance?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Standard Life.
Zurich's operational emissions are about 68% below 2019 but were flat in 2025, and the financed emissions of its corporate holdings rose slightly in the year.
See the breakdown →Hiscox discloses operational emissions with third-party verification but excludes financed/underwritten emissions—98% of its carbon footprint.
See the breakdown →UnitedHealth cut market-based operational emissions 55% from 2023 to 2025, mainly by buying renewable electricity (44% of use in 2025), but location-based operational emissions fell only about 4% and value-chain emissions rose 2%.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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