Nedbank Group | Carbon neutrality

Carbon neutrality

Download 2011 GHG report [ 38 KB ]

MANAGING NEDBANK GROUP'S IMPACT

In 2010 Nedbank Group became the first financial services institution in Africa to achieve carbon neutrality. This effectively launched the group into the next phase of its 20-plus-year environmental sustainability journey, positioning Nedbank Group well to realise its vision of becoming a leader in, and driver of, sustainability via its balanced and integrated approach to addressing environmental, social, cultural and economic sustainability issues.

Of particular relevance to this achievement was the commitment by Nedbank Group to attain carbon neutrality as far as possible through its own reduction efforts. To this end the group drove significant behavioural change across its business in order to reach its stated reduction targets in terms of paper, water, electricity, waste, travel and carbon emissions.

Since its achievement of carbon neutrality the group has leveraged its status to build its client value proposition, deliver improved value and help drive the establishment of SA's green economy through extensive stakeholder collaboration and partnerships.

While carbon neutrality was primarily facilitated through Nedbank Group's own carbon reduction efforts, carbon credits were required to offset the remaining emissions. In keeping with the group's integrated sustainability commitment, these were obtained from projects that deliver integrated sustainability benefits to the environment and society in the regions in which they operate.

In 2011 Nedbank Group continued to build on this integrated sustainability support philosophy by securing the carbon credits it required to retain its carbon neutrality through supporting a variety of African and SA projects. The projects supported demonstrate both social and environmental credentials, and include:

The Rukinga Project.
The Nova Institute Mpumalanga and Highveld Air Quality projects.
The Amathole Berries greenhouse gas reduction project.
The Environmental Trust of Uganda's Trees for Global Benefits project.
The Kibale National Park (Uganda) Natural High Forest Rehabilitation Project.
The Rukinga Project – In 2010 the Rukinga Project in Kenya's Kasigau Corridor became the world's first Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) project to issue carbon credits. In 2011 Nedbank Group continued its association with this project, which is helping to prevent the deforestation of this eco-sensitive region while, at the same time, delivering massive economic and social upliftment benefits to local communities in the area.
The Nova Institute – Highveld Air Quality (SA) implemented an air quality project, which achieved emission reductions through the implementation of an improved top-down ignition method for domestic coal fires used for cooking and heating. The project includes areas of Mpumalanga, the Free State and Gauteng. The method improves the efficiency of domestic fires, limits particle emissions and reduces the quantity of coal needed. Income from verified emission reductions is used to further the project and implement similar projects.
Amathole Berries – This commercial agricultural and rural development company is committed to the increasing use of renewable energy sources, both as an environmental and commercial consideration. Through its partnership with Credible Carbon, the trading company of the PACE Centre, Amathole Berries identifies and develops onsite greenhouse gas saving projects, including emission reductions through innovative composting and the replacement of inorganic nitrate fertilisers with natural fertilisers. All carbon revenue from this project accrues to the Amathole Berries Farm Employees Trust, which is 15%-owned by farm employees.
The Environmental Trust of Uganda – This is Uganda's leading indigenous, non-profit conservation finance institution. It supports natural resource management initiatives aimed at providing long-term sustained funding for the conservation of biodiversity and environmental management in Uganda. The Trees for Global Benefits programme is a cooperative community based carbon offset scheme that emphasises sustainable land use practices that also benefit the livelihoods of families and communities.
Natural High Forest Rehabilitation Project – Kibale National Park is one of the last remaining tropical forest blocks in Uganda. It hosts the greatest variety and concentration of primates found anywhere in East Africa and is home to at least 350 tree species. Since the early 1990s work has been underway to reforest approximately 10 000 ha of the park, thereby restoring this biodiversity and increasing its carbon stocks. Quantifying and valuing carbon emissions that are avoided due to the project enable revenue generation through the sale of voluntary carbon units (VCUs). The project also seeks to educate local communities about their impact on the park, and promotes appropriate land management practices and sustainable forest usage, while creating employment opportunities.

CLIMATE CHANGE POSITION STATEMENT
Nedbank Group's Climate Change Position Statement is the bank's public declaration of its commitment to acting to address climate change and a formal pledge to reducing its impact on the environment.

Nedbank Group's climate change work is driven by a defined set of intensity reduction targets that are closely aligned with the National Energy Efficiency accord and the Energy Efficiency Leadership Network Pledge, both of which Nedbank Group is a signatory. In addition to encouraging its own reductions in resource usage, the position statement mandates Nedbank Group to work closely with its suppliers and business partners to encourage and help them measure, manage and reduce their own carbon emissions.

In 2011 the group's preferential procurement processes were further refined to include considerations around suppliers' demonstrated commitments to these types of reduction principles or a willingness to work with Nedbank Group to reduce their environmental impact going forward.

REDUCTION TARGETS
The reduction targets have been set as a way to accurately measure and manage the group's carbon emissions as well as its impact on available resources. The targets are also an effective means of improving transparency and reporting on these reduction efforts and on the group's overall greenhouse gases (GHG). For 2012 the paper, water, waste and recycling targets have been reset.

Resource	Target
Energy	12% reduction by the end of 2015 based on 2005 levels or 5 335 kWh per fulltime employee (FTE). Currently at 5 841 kWh per FTE.
Water	6% reduction by the end of 2016 based on 2011 levels or consumption of 15,01 kl per FTE. Currently at 15,97 kl per FTE.
Paper*	10% reduction by the end of 2016 based on 2010 levels.The 2011 paper consumption was 1 775 tonnes (2010: 1 917 tonnes).
Waste	8% reduction by the end of 2016 based on 2011 levels, or waste to landﬁll of 20,91 kg per FTE. Currently at 23 kg per FTE.
Recycling	6% increase in recycling by the end of 2016 based on 2011 levels or 33,58 kg per FTE. Currently at 31,68 per FTE.
Carbon emissions (includes business travel)	12% reduction by the end of 2015 based on 2007 levels or 7,67 tCO2e per FTE. Currently at 7,74 tCO2e per FTE.

*	The paper target is an absolute target and not an intensity reduction target, as most of Nedbank Group's paper usage is related to client communications and related regulatory requirements rather than individual employee usage.

As has been the case in previous years, the reduction targets – particularly those aimed at carbon intensity management – were integral to the assessment of performance during the 2011 financial period. Performance against these reduction targets is monitored and documented, on a monthly basis, by a dedicated task team. This team also uses the results of its ongoing reduction target performance measurement to raise awareness, across the group, of progress to date and possible ways of accelerating target achievement.

DEVELOPMENTS AROUND TARGETS IN 2011
During the 2011 financial year the group achieved the following in terms of its 2011 intensity reduction efforts:

Reduction element	Achievement in 2011
Carbon emissions	Emissions were reduced by 6,13% to 7,74 tCO₂e per FTE. Emissions per m² of ofﬁce space were reduced by 10,16% to 0,35 tCO₂e.
Electricity	Electricity usage was reduced by 0,14% per FTE and by 5,36% based on ﬂoor space per FTE.
Water	Water consumption on campus sites was reduced by 9% per FTE.
Paper	A reduction of 7,4 % in paper usage was achieved across the entire group, exceeding the 2011 target.
Waste and recycling	The waste target was exceeded by 31% with 23 kg per FTE sent to landﬁll down from 33 kg per FTE in 2010. Recycling increased in line with the 2011 target.
Business travel	Business travel increased from 6 885 tCO₂e to 9 846 tCO₂e due to an increase in air travel. This increase is attributed to growth in the business.
Total environmental investment	The group invested a total of R61,2m (2010: R54,6m) into environmental initiatives, including the scope increase of its carbon neutrality and its water stewardship programme.

CARBON EMISSIONS
For the 2011 financial year Nedbank Group's total GHG emissions increased by 2,12%. This increase was the result of the continued organic growth of the organisation and the ongoing efforts of the group to expand its GHG reporting scope, while simultaneously focusing on reducing its environmental impact.

The positive impact of this approach is evidenced in the reduction in carbon emissions per FTE by 6,13% to 7,74 tCO₂e for the period under review. Emissions per m² of office space were also reduced by 10,16% to 0,35 tCO₂e/m².

ENERGY
Approximately 75% of Nedbank Group's carbon footprint comes from electricity usage. Consequently, the group makes every effort to reduce its electricity usage via active intervention, staff education and focused investment. The group achieved a marginal overall energy usage reduction of 0,15% per FTE during the 2011 financial year, but a reduction of 3,4% was achieved on the adjusted baseline (ie inclusion of Phase II) at the campus sites that are owned by Nedbank Group. The implication is that buildings owned and managed by Nedbank Group far outperform leased space from an energy intensity reduction point of view.

At a capital investment of R5,1m for the period, specific initiatives aimed at reducing electricity usage in 2011 included:

the continued use and rollout of occupancy sensors to regulate the use of lighting within office spaces;
ongoing upgrading of light fittings to energy saving units; and
regulated usage of decentralised air-conditioning systems (comfort cooling can be the biggest consumer of electricity in an office environment).

WATER
The group set itself an ambitious new target of a further 10% reduction on 2009 levels by the end of 2011. This target was almost met during the year under review.

Water consumption for Nedbank Group campus sites in 2011 amounted to 266 316 kl, which represents a reduction of 9% per FTE. The achievement was driven primarily through continued staff awareness of the group’s water stewardship responsibilities, the installation of more water saving devices such as hydrotaps and aerators across the group, and the collection and use of rainwater and recycled water for non-potable water requirements. At the SA Water Quality Conference in 2011 Nedbank Group received Green and Blue Drop accreditation for the water puriﬁcation of the drinking and efﬂuent water at its training facility in the Cradle of Mankind, Muldersdrift, Gauteng.

As a relatively small water user Nedbank Group is now fast approaching a steady state in terms of its operational water usage.While further reductions will be targeted in the next ﬁve years,the growing water crisis has prompted the group to expand its focus on water quantity, quality and access.This has led to a R9m investment in the WWF Water Balance Programme, which will fund the removal of alien invasive plant species, thereby releasing more than 550 000 kl of water per year back into two of SA’s priority water catchment areas. For more information please refer to the ‘Communities’ section.

PAPER
In 2011 Nedbank Group delivered a very pleasing 7,4% reduction in its overall paper usage across the organisation. This achievement was largely the result of the work being done within the Nedbank Retail Cluster to streamline its paper-based client-facing processes and switch to electronic documentation wherever possible. One speciﬁc example of this is work undertaken in the card collection process, which resulted in a reduction in the paper used for each process and a saving of more than 14m pieces of paper in 2011. This equates to a saving of approximately 5 600 boxes of paper.

During 2011 a number of stakeholders queried the carbon impact of paper usage versus electronic communication. In response Nedbank Group engaged external experts to gain a complete understanding of the full lifecycle or environmental impact of paper, including the often-cited carbon sequestration/storage beneﬁts of plantations. The study established that the full paper value chain (including transportation and water use) does indeed have a net environmental burden, even if the analysis includes carbon sequestration/storage as a beneﬁt and, as such, Nedbank Group continues to reduce its paper usage wherever possible.

WASTE AND RECYCLING
In addition to paper-recycling activity, the group continues to make it easy for employees to dispose safely of compact ﬂuorescent lamps, batteries and printer cartridges by placing accessible collection boxes at all campus sites.As a result of these initiatives, and the continued recycling drive across the group, general waste sent to landﬁlls in 2011 amounted to 379 tonnes or 23 kg per FTE, down from 33 kg per FTE in 2010.

Nedbank Group Property Services continues to drive cost savings through the effective use of recycling practices, the implementation of food waste disposal units and the use of vegetable gardens and worm farms at staff canteens and kitchens at a number of campus sites.

The total amount of recycled waste across all campus sites increased by 5% in 2011. This achievement becomes even more signiﬁcant when seen in the context of the overall reduction in paper usage during the same period.

BUSINESS TRAVEL
Nedbank Group has a detailed Business Travel Policy that includes comprehensive green travel guidelines to limit business travel and promote the use of tele- and videoconferencing.

In 2011 overall business travel increased by 51% based on kilometres travelled. It is important to note that this is still 9,6% lower than the 2007 baseline.This increase can be attributed to the overall growth in the business during the period.

ENVIRONMENTAL EXPENDITURE
In the 2011 ﬁnancial year Nedbank Group invested R61,2m (2010:R54,6m) in a vast range of environmental initiatives, the most signiﬁcant of which were cost of carbon credit offsets (2011: R15m; 2010: R16m), energy efﬁciency initiatives, donations to The Green Trust and investment in water stewardship through the WWF Water Balance Programme.

CARBON FOOTPRINT MEASUREMENT
Nedbank Group's carbon emissions per FTE were reduced year-on-year by 6,13% to 7,74 tCO₂e per annum and emissions per m² of office space also reduced by 10,16% to 0,35 tCO₂e per annum.

The overall reported GHG emissions in absolute terms increased by 2,12% year-on-year from 2010 to 2011. However, this increase is as a consequence of efforts to continue expanding Nedbank Group's GHG report boundary and scope (see below), while simultaneously focusing efforts on reducing its environmental impact. The year 2011 saw a significant increase in reporting detail for SA and non-SA facilities and operations. In 2011 a big drive was undertaken to increase the accuracy of non-SA reported electricity.

Reporting period	Financial year 2010
Methodology	The GHG Protocol – corporate accounting and reporting standard (revised edition). External experts were consulted where no clear guidance or guidance applicable to SA was available.¹
Inclusions	Nedbank Group’s activities, equipment and operations, as well as the actions of its employees associated directly with 754 (2010: 583) SA ofﬁces and branches and all non-SA equipment and operations as integrated into the greater Nedbank Group.
Exclusions	Data required to undertake emissions calculation is not currently available for the following: Scope 1 and 3, as they relate to non-SA ofﬁces due to a lack of reliable data. In 2011 better quality electricity consumption data was collated for non-SA facilities. Due to this the staff headcount for non-SA facilities was incorporated in the reporting. Emissions associated with the operation and service of automated teller machines (ATMs), self-service terminals (SSTs) and point-of-sale (POS) devices located away from a branch or ofﬁce premises and other remote devices. Any other premises or activities owned or operated by Nedbank Group not explicitly referenced in this report.

FTE count and occupied ofﬁce space included in the report	2011	2010	2009	2007 baseline
Total occupied ﬂoor space of reported buildings (m2)	622 042²	542 147	520 821	261 450
Employees included in FTE calculations	28 146	25 884	24 284	14 203
Total number of FTEs	28 146⁴	25 884³	24 284	25 518
Percentage of all employees covered by the report	100,00⁵	100,00	100,00	55,66

1	In some cases the vendor-supplied emission factors will be used as supplied. An example of this is the Eskom grid emission factor, which is reported as 0,99tCO₂e/MWh in the Eskom 2011 annual report.
2	Increase in m² is due to investigations of domestic lease agreements and inclusion of foreign premises.
3	Excluding international secondees.
4	GHG emissions are monitored on a monthly basis and reported against monthly FTE numbers. The result is that the annual FTE number used for GHG emissions is a 12-month average. Campus site FTE numbers for 2011: 16 678 (2010: 14 988).
5	In 2010 only estimated scope 2 emissions related to non-SA employees were accounted for and non-SA employees were not included in the total 2010 FTE number. Reporting has improved in 2011 and now all staff are included (1 642 FTE non-SA).



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