Emissions from SEB’s branch offices, premises and facilities are down 82 per cent over the 2008-2015 period due to increased use of renewable energy and more energy efficient buildings. For 2015, 92 per cent of the electricity used by SEB came from renewable sources. Paper consumption fell 75 per cent from 2008 until 2015 due to less internal printing and fewer printed customer mailings. Emissions from company cars are down primarily due to more efficient cars, but also due to a smaller fleet.
However, as a result of business expansion and reorganisation, carbon emissions from business travel rose 10 per cent in the period and the distance travelled increased 25 per cent. Due to more efficient airplanes, emissions have not increased as much as the distance travelled. Comparing 2015 to 2014, emissions from business travel fell 4 per cent.
“More than half of the bank’s total carbon emissions are related to business travel. To further cut our emissions, it is clear that we have to do more in this area and put more efforts into offering alternatives to travelling, such as video conferences and PC Video,” says Jonas Solehav, SEB’s Environmental Manager.
SEB aims to further reduce its carbon footprint and has set a new target to cut emissions by 20 per cent by 2020, compared to 2015. The target is to reduce emissions by 20 per cent overall, and in all four areas individually; business travel, company cars, paper usage and energy.
“Good performance regarding resource efficiency and our own carbon footprint is almost a prerequisite when offering green finance and investment products to clients,” Solehav says.