Environment and climate change
We want to contribute to the protection of the environment and the contrast and mitigation to climate change by decreasing the impact of our activities and promoting the green transition of our customers.
In line with EU policies and regulatory interventions, we are committed to promoting an environmentally sustainable economy by controlling and gradually reducing the environmental footprint generated by our operations and by supporting and facilitating our customers in making environmentally sustainable choices.
from the Banco BPM Group’s Code of Ethics
We have adopted guidelines on the management of environmental, energy and climate change issues which represent an important tool for guiding all the Group’s activities to contain our environmental impact and formalize our commitment to stakeholders.
KEY FIGURES
as at December 2022
2021: about 16,100 tCO2eq
2021: over 11,500 k tCO2eq
2021: over 649,000 GJ
Furthermore:
- 55.6% share of new disbursements in green and low transition risk sectors
- € 2 billion of green bond
- € 600 million of new disbursements in green residential mortgages
STRATEGY
The growing awareness of the role of the banking system in the climate and environmental challenge has profoundly influenced our actions and strategic vision.
In fact, we believe that a commitment to environmental protection and combating climate change is a fundamental element in creating long-term sustainable wealth for our stakeholders and for the areas where we operate.
With reference to direct environmental impact, we have long been committed to monitoring, managing consumption and reducing emissions to progressively reduce our environmental footprint and reach the goal of zero emissions (Scope 1 & 2) by 2024.
In relation to the impacts that we indirectly produce in carrying out our financial intermediation activity, we intend to ensure more favourable access to capital for green activities or those that intend to undertake a transition process, and conversely, to adopt exclusionary policies and a selective approach towards sectors with a high environmental risk.
This strategic vision includes joining the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), deliberated in March 2023, which commits us to aligning our credit and investment portfolio to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
LENDING POLICIES AND RISK MANAGEMENT
We are working towards a progressive integration of climate and environmental risks and opportunities within lending policies and the overall risk management framework.
Regarding risk management, the process of fully integrating climate factors into the Risk Appetite Framework (RAF) continued in 2021 to support corporate bodies in considering the impacts of ESG factors.
Regarding lending policies, the lending policy guidelines were greatly revised to further integrate ESG assessment parameters.
GREEN LOANS FOR COMPANIES AND INDIVIDUALS
We have developed a range of products and services to support our customers’ environmental initiatives.
Regarding companies, the main catalogue solutions developed in 2022 are:
Unsecured loans with sustainability objectives: product whith an ‘ESG clause’ and linking the cost of financing to the achievement and/or maintenance of ESG objectives;
SACE green loan: Subsidised loans covered by a SACE guarantee for green project;
Financing of renewable energy systems (RES): financial solutions to support SMEs in business investment projects in renewable energy plants.
Regarding Private Individuals, we want to support them for energy-efficient building interventions.
This includes loans for the purchase of class A, B and C properties or renovated for energy efficiency. An important tool deployed by Banco BPM to incentivise energy efficiency operations for its customers is the ‘green factor’ mortgage, developed in line with the principles of the Energy Efficiency Mortgages Initiative project (EeMI).
DIRECT ENVIRONMENTAL MITIGATION
We want to grow by reducing the environmental impact of our activities. Every day, we are committed to developing solutions and processes that enable us to continually improve our environmental performance, involving employees and suppliers in the challenge.
We further consolidated our energy management activities by strengthening our Environmental and Energy Management Systems and we have confirmed our intention to continue to use only electricity entirely produced from certified renewable sources.
We take particular care in the choice of materials, especially the most frequently used ones such as paper and toner, and we are committed to reducing their consumption and avoiding waste.
OUR PROJECTS
The reduction of our environmental footprint is implemented daily through actions that affect both our direct and our indirect impacts.