We always factor issues of environmental sustainability into our strategic decisions, in spite of the fact that our business itself is rooted in the service sector.
For a bank, an environmental commitment must be twofold:
- management of direct impacts – generated directly by our daily activities (energy and water usage, consumption of office supplies, product choices, etc.);
- attention to indirect impacts – generated by other parties over whom we have some level of influence (using financial products to generate incentives for sustainable behavior, applying environmental risk assessments in allocating loans, choosing suppliers, etc.)
In coherence with our environmental commitment, on May 6Th the Group signed a strategic international partnership with WWF International, announcing our strategy and our environmental targets: the reduction of CO2 group emissions by 30 % by 2020 (mid term goal -15% emissions by 2012).
Moreover, In 2000 for the first time we adopted an Environmental Policy, signed by our CEO, Alessandro Profumo.
The institution of ISO 14001-certified and EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS)-certified Environmental Management Systems at UniCredit Group, HVB and soon Bank Austria demonstrates our commitment to measurable targets, evaluation and public communication.
In accordance with EMAS, an Environmental Statement has also been drafted.
