Corporate environmental and climate protection
Information checkedInformation geprüft Corporate environmental and climate protection
As a responsibly operating company, it is important to us to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and to the conservation of natural resources. We fulfil this responsibility by taking environmental aspects into account in our capital investments (see chapter "Sustainability in banking") as well as by implementing measures in our own operations. Thanks to our ambitious mobility management and the improved energy efficiency of our IT infrastructure and buildings, we have made progress in reducing our CO₂ footprint over the past few years.
Mobility management
The volume of traffic has increased massively in Liechtenstein over the past few years. The LLB Group is committed to keeping the environmental pollution caused by business and commuter traffic as low as possible. We have an incentive scheme to encourage our staff to use public or non-motorised transport or form car pools to get to work. Here, on the one hand, we subsidise the cost of season tickets on public transport and offer a bonus in return for foregoing a parking space. And, on the other hand, we levy parking charges – there are four charge bands and the charge levied depends on the distance to work. We promote the use of non-motorised transport by providing changing facilities and showers with towel services as well as 45 company bicycles at our business locations. We also contribute CHF 50.00 towards the purchase of a bicycle helmet and motivate our employees to take part in the competition run by the Verkehrs-Club Liechtenstein (VCL) "Radfahren für Ihre Gesundheit" (Cycling for your health) and the one by the Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce and Industry "Mit dem Rad zur Arbeit" (Cycling to work).
These measures are having an effect: out of all LLB employees in Liechtenstein, 295 (2019: 293) now come to work by bus, bike or on foot; this corresponds to 41 per cent.
We have installed nine electric charging points in all at six locations in Liechtenstein in an effort to promote electromobility. The charging points are primarily available for use by our employees who drive to work in an electric car, but they can also be used by our clients.
Energy-efficient buildings
The organisational unit Facility Management identifies potential energy savings and evaluates the effect of efficiency measures. We continue to improve the energy efficiency of our properties through renovating and refurbishing. An example of this is our "Green Datacenter", which not only corresponds to the highest security standards, but also has an excellent energy balance. Since two of our business premises in Vaduz (our headquarters and Haus Wuhr Ost) are equipped with photovoltaic (PV) systems, we generate a small part of our electric power in an environmentally friendly manner. In 2020, the PV systems produced 8'820 kilowatt-hours (2019: 8'560 kWh).
In the reporting year, the coronavirus pandemic, among other things, led to a decrease in energy consumption as many employees worked from home for a time (see table).
Energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions 1
|
|
2020 |
2019 |
|
Energy consumption (in MWh) |
6'860 |
7'280 |
|
Electricity ² |
4'973 |
5'427 |
|
District heating ³ |
602 |
577 |
|
Total heating fuels |
818 |
797 |
|
Heating oil ⁴ |
111 |
114 |
|
Natural gas |
707 |
683 |
|
Total motor fuels |
467 |
479 |
|
Diesel (vehicles and emergency power generator testing) ⁵ |
277 |
332 |
|
Petrol (vehicles) |
190 |
147 |
|
|
|
|
|
CO 2 emissions (in tCO 2 e) ⁶ |
1'000 |
1'095 |
|
Scope 1 total ⁷ |
300 |
298 |
|
Heating fuels |
175 |
170 |
|
Motor fuels |
122 |
126 |
|
Volatile gases (refrigerants) |
4 |
2 |
|
Scope 2 total ⁸ |
699 |
797 |
|
Electricity ⁹ |
566 |
669 |
|
District heating |
134 |
128 |
1) Includes the LLB locations in Liechtenstein and Austria as well as Bank Linth. Some consumption data at the Vienna location was estimated based on the previous year's consumption.
2) The reduction in electricity consumption compared to 2019 is due, among other things, to the pandemic-related work of a large part of the staff from the home office. In addition, there were several changes at the system boundary at Bank Linth (new branch office in Meilen, changed energy reference areas in various branch offices). However, the influence of these changes on total electricity consumption is negligible.
3) The increase in district heating consumption compared to 2019 is due to a property in Liechtenstein that was heavily affected by the pandemic-related home office measures. In order to maintain the required room temperature, a higher heating demand was necessary.
4) The data collection on heat consumption for Bank Linth is partially incomplete and will be optimised.
5) The significant reduction in diesel consumption is due to the reduced use of diesel vehicles at LLB Austria. Part of this reduction was compensated for in 2020 by increased petrol consumption.
6) The greenhouse gas emissions were calculated according to the guidelines of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Due to the update of the emission factors in the reporting year, the electricity-related CO₂ emissions for 2019 were subsequently adjusted downwards by around 7 %. Without this adjustment, the electricity-related emissions in 2019 amounted to around 669 tCO2e.
7) Greenhouse gas emissions from own heating boilers, fuels and air conditioning
8) Greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the production of purchased electricity and district heating.
9) Reported using location-based approach following Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scope 2 Guidance
Partner to climate foundations
LLB is a partner of the independent non-profit LIFE Climate Foundation Liechtenstein (since 2009) and the Swiss Climate Foundation (since 2012). It thus belongs to a group of partner firms that pool their resources to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The companies do this in an uncomplicated and efficient manner and, through their activities, help to protect the climate. LLB refunds of CO₂ contributions from Liechtenstein made to the Climate Foundation are used to promote climate-friendly products and technological developments as well as energy-saving projects. SMEs that contribute to climate protection also benefit from this.