SUSTAINABLE ADVICE
When it comes to customer advice, we only hire well-qualified employees, usually bankers who have completed corresponding further education and study courses. All customer advisers complete a specialist 'ecoanlageberater' course in the marketing of sustainable investments. After studying eight comprehensive modules on this course, they become certified advisers for sustainable investments and are considered qualified to assist our customers in all matters of responsible socio-ecological investment. In addition to this, a number of staff from our Financial Consultancy team have completed training at ADG Business School to qualify as certified foundation advisers. Our motto here is that client advice should always be based on the customer's needs, irrespective of the profit interests and business of the bank itself. Of course, none of our employees receive commission or sales-related wages.
SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS
When it comes to upholding its socio-ecological responsibility, it is not enough for BIB simply to recommend sustainable investments to customers and to undertake the bank's own investments with all due consideration of sustainable criteria; the bank's operations must also be sustainable. For us, this means safeguarding the financial sustainability and thus the existence of the bank through cost-effectiveness measures and minimising the use of resources. We have set an upper limit of 50 per cent for our cost-to-income ratio. The measures initiated in recent years are geared towards achieving these cost-effectiveness targets and reducing the resources we utilise, i.e. improving our ecological footprint. We limited the carbon emissions of all our company cars to a maximum of 140 g/km several years ago.
Since 1 November 2011, we have been using the 'GoGreen' climate protection programme offered by Deutsche Post to make the transportation of our bank's business correspondence climate neutral. On 1 December 2011, we switched to hydroelectric power for 100 per cent of our electricity usage. Our energy usage is also systematically monitored and optimised. Each member of staff is expected to play their part. We are proud of what we have achieved so far, but there is still room for improvement:
When it comes to customer advice, we only hire well-qualified employees, usually bankers who have completed corresponding further education and study courses. All customer advisers complete a specialist 'ecoanlageberater' course in the marketing of sustainable investments. After studying eight comprehensive modules on this course, they become certified advisers for sustainable investments and are considered qualified to assist our customers in all matters of responsible socio-ecological investment. In addition to this, a number of staff from our Financial Consultancy team have completed training at ADG Business School to qualify as certified foundation advisers. Our motto here is that client advice should always be based on the customer's needs, irrespective of the profit interests and business of the bank itself. Of course, none of our employees receive commission or sales-related wages.
SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS
When it comes to upholding its socio-ecological responsibility, it is not enough for BIB simply to recommend sustainable investments to customers and to undertake the bank's own investments with all due consideration of sustainable criteria; the bank's operations must also be sustainable. For us, this means safeguarding the financial sustainability and thus the existence of the bank through cost-effectiveness measures and minimising the use of resources. We have set an upper limit of 50 per cent for our cost-to-income ratio. The measures initiated in recent years are geared towards achieving these cost-effectiveness targets and reducing the resources we utilise, i.e. improving our ecological footprint. We limited the carbon emissions of all our company cars to a maximum of 140 g/km several years ago.
Since 1 November 2011, we have been using the 'GoGreen' climate protection programme offered by Deutsche Post to make the transportation of our bank's business correspondence climate neutral. On 1 December 2011, we switched to hydroelectric power for 100 per cent of our electricity usage. Our energy usage is also systematically monitored and optimised. Each member of staff is expected to play their part. We are proud of what we have achieved so far, but there is still room for improvement:
- In 2012, the bank's heat recovery system reduced the energy used for heating by a total of 387,317 kWh and the power used for cooling by 20,163 kWh thanks to absorption cooling.
- Our total use of district heating fell by almost 9 per cent as a result, with an 11 per cent reduction per employee, although when comparing figures year on year, the winter weather must always be taken into account.
- Following 2011's all-time low, water consumption per employee rose again by almost 13 per cent. The total amount of water used also increased slightly. However, this was partly attributable to serious water damage caused by a pipe bursting overnight. This means we need to work even harder to minimise water usage in future.
- Electricity usage per employee was cut again by almost 6 per cent in 2012, having fallen by 7 per cent in the previous year. Total consumption also shrank by 2 per cent.
- Use of photocopier paper was also significantly reduced, down almost 19 per cent per employee. However, 700,000 sheets of paper were still used in 2012 in total, indicating that we still have a long way to go to make our offices paperless.