4. June 2020
The greenhouse gas emissions footprint resulting from LHV’s office activity in 2019 was the equivalent of 1,210 tonnes of CO2, or 2.6 tonnes per employee. LHV’s goal is to reduce emissions and to operate in a climate neutral manner by 2022.
According to the recently completed LHV CO2 footprint study, 61% of LHV's greenhouse gas emissions came from the use of electricity and heat, with an additional 24% resulting from employees commuting to work. A comprehensive survey of LHV’s employees was carried out to assess the emissions by employees on their daily commute to the office. In addition, 14% of emissions were the result of business trips, mainly air transport. Office expenses, i.e. paper, water, and waste accounted for 1% of emissions.
According to Erki Kilu, Chairman of the Management Board of LHV Pank, measuring the footprint of business activities was an important step so that it could be reduced in the future. ‘At present we have already made a significant change, having switched over to green-certified electricity, which will help reduce emissions by 30% this year. Our goal is to reach climate neutral office functions by 2022. To do so, we must, in addition to reducing emissions, also offset the greenhouse gas footprint that cannot be reduced’, said Kilu.
‘We can also limit emissions by saving on heat energy and electricity consumption; part of the savings could also come from the more active use of video conferencing and allowing people to work from home. We plan to change our habits so that we are more aware on a daily basis; for example, when it comes to using paper or regarding more sustainable consumption’, said Kilu.
The survey showed that in 2019, LHV generated an average of 86 kg of waste per employee. At the same time, each LHV employee consumed an average of 4 kg of paper and 5.3 m3 of water during the year. As LHV is planning to apply for the Green Office certificate for its offices, the plan is to place consumption under even greater scrutiny in the future.
In March, LHV joined the UN Principles for Responsible Banking and recently announced a comprehensive green action plan to introduce sustainability in its business operations.
The LHV Group's greenhouse gas footprint has been calculated in accordance with the internationally recognised and most commonly used greenhouse gas reporting standard ‘GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard’. The standard covers the assessment of the emission of seven greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrogen oxides (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3). Sustinere helped to perform footprint measurements.
LHV Group is the largest domestic financial group and capital provider in Estonia. LHV Group's key subsidiaries are LHV Pank and LHV Varahaldus. LHV employs over 460 people. LHV’s banking services are used by 219,000 clients, and pension funds managed by LHV have 178,000 active clients. LHV’s UK branch offers banking infrastructure to 120 international financial services companies, via which LHV’s payment services reach clients around the world.
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