Société Générale offsets its CO2 emissions

Société Générale Group is committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2012. Its target of an 11% reduction in its CO2 emissions per occupant between 2008 and 2012 applies to energy consumption, business travel and office paper. The offsetting of residual emissions will be carried out progressively.
In 2008, Luxembourg subsidiaries, Société Générale Bank & Trust (SGBT) and SGSS, were the first to offset their residual CO2 emissions generated in 2007 which amounted to 1 736 tons. Calling on the expert services of Belgian company, CO2logic, the entities chose to finance a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project which recycles agricultural waste to produce green electricity in Andra Pradesh in Southern India. The project is not only a boost to local employment, but also means the transfer of technological expertise and financing from the north to south of the country. Since then, the entities have continued to offset their emissions.
In March 2009, Société Générale offset the CO2 emissions of its corporate center buildings through the purchase of CO2 certificates (via its subsidiary orbeo) by the Group.
Three principles governed the choice of which CO2 certificates to buy :
  • CERs originating from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) established by the Kyoto Protocol. Issued by the Executive Board of the CDM, these CERs for the reduction of greenhouse gases have been approved and certified by the United Nations,
  • CERs with an equitable geographic impact: by giving precedence to CERs from those regions that are currently under-represented such as South America (Argentina),
  • CERs from energy projects (energy efficient, renewable energies, etc.) or gas recovery projects. All projects likely to come under the criticism of stakeholders (NGOs, experts, etc.) were not considered.
The Group's final choice was a project involving the recovery of gas from two landfills in Argentina (lien vers le PDD). As methane is a gas that contributes more to global warming than CO2, the project which involves the recovery and elimination of the gas from these landfills is a sure means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. All told, 28,840 tons of residual emissions were offset in France and Luxembourg.
In 2010, the Group once again increased the scope of its measures to offset CO2 emissions by deciding that its activities in France would be carbon neutral. The Specialised Financial Services business line included its ALD subsidiary in the UK, and Luxembourg subsidiaries SGBT and SGSS continued with their initiatives set in place two years ago, enabling Société Générale to offset one quarter of its CO2 emissions worldwide in 2009 (69,745 tons). Moreover, in order to make its different business lines more aware of their respective responsibilities, the Group will also invoice them for the costs incurred. From 2011, the entire Société Générale Group will be carbon neutral since, as set out in its plan, it has committed to offsetting all emissions generated by its energy and paper consumption as well as its business travel.
To ensure the transactions carried out in partnership with orbeo are a success, a committee with members from each of the Group's business lines was formed to draw up a Group Voluntary Carbon Offset Charter defining the selection criteria for projects and credits (lien vers la charte de compensation). An internal guide on selecting projects and certificates has also been drawn up to explain how the process works and to improve employee awareness.