Conscious management of Julius Baer’s environmental footprint is a fundamental part of our corporate sustainability framework. On top of environmental and social benefits, reducing our operational footprint will increase our efficiency and lead to cost savings. In 2015, we defined several concrete goals to optimise the efficiency of our infrastructure and to operate an environmentally conscious corporate culture by 2020.
 

We are also working towards meeting the concrete goals we set for 2015-2020 to proactively reduce our ecological footprint, including measures to

Energy:

  • Reduce total consumption by 10%
  • Purchase 100% of electricity from renewable sources (wherever possible)

Water:

  • Reduce total consumption by 5%

Waste, recycling and cleaning:

  • Establish and implement a comprehensive waste management and recycling concept; based on that, set up the respective waste management and cleaning guidelines

Julius Baer is a member of the Swiss Climate Foundation, which directly helps to fund ecological efficiency and innovation projects led by small and medium-sized enterprises in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. As part of its membership, Julius Baer donates a considerable portion of the net gains received from the redistributed CO2 levies to the foundation.

 

KEY ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS1

  2017 2016 Change in %
Energy consumption (MWh) 27,244 28,529 -4.5
Electricity 21,446 22,070 -2.8
Heating and other fuels 5,798 6,459 -10.2
       
Energy intensity (MWh/FTE)2 5.6 6.1 -8.3
       
Greenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e)3 14,010 13,243 5.8
Scope 1 total4 1,578 1,638 -3.6
Heating and other fuels 1,222 1,234 -1
Volatile emissions (refrigerants) 356 404 -11.8
Scope 2 (electricity and district heat)5, 6 4,299 4,571 -6
Scope 3 total7 8,134 7,034 15.6
Business travel8 7,678 6,438 19.3
Purchased goods and waste from operations9 456 596 -23.5
       
Greenhouse gas intensity (tCO2e/FTE)10 2.9 2.8 3.1
       
Business travel (miles/FTE)8 6,759 6,395 5.7
       
Paper consumption (t) 273 314 -13
Paper consumption intensity (kg/FTE)2 56 67 -16.5
       
Water consumption (m3) 119,193 119,641 -0.4
Water consumption intensity (m3/FTE)2 25 26 -4.3
       
Waste (t)11 806 850 -5.2
Residual office waste 364 370 -1.6
Recycling 395 432 -8.7
Special waste12 47 48 -2
       
Waste intensity (kg/FTE)2 167 183 -9
1 Numbers are based on information from Julius Baer’s main business locations. These are Zurich, Geneva and Lugano in Switzerland, as well as our locations in Germany, the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and Uruguay. The locations represented cover about 76% of our total employees.
2 Intensity figures refer to employees at sites specified under footnote  1.
3 Greenhouse gas emissions were calculated according to the guidelines of the WRI/WBCSD Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
4 Emissions from directly owned or controlled sources.
5 Emissions from purchased electricity and district heat.
6 Scope 2 emissions were calculated using the ‘location-based’ approach in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scope 2 Guidance.
7 Emissions from sources not owned or controlled by Julius Baer, but associated with Julius Baer’s activities.
8 Business travel figures are a sum of emissions from air, rental car and train travel data representing 100% of FTE at Julius Baer, as well as emissions from company cars used at sites specified under footnote 1.
9 Emissions associated with the consumption of purchased water, paper, PET and glass bottles as well as emissions from waste treatment by waste generated in Julius Baer’s operations.
10 Greenhouse gas intensity has been calculated using Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 (including company car data) emissions representing about 76% of employees. Business travel through air, rental cars and train travel covers 100% of FTE and has not been adjusted for this calculation. The FTE base used for the calculation is in line with the other intensity figures and covers about 76% of employees, as specified under footnote  1.
11 Waste data only covers our locations in Switzerland and the UK.
12 Special waste comprises street sludge, cooking oil and fluorescent lamps.