Carbon Neutrality Plan - Principles and Objectives**
Objective:
- Reduce CO2 emissions by 11% per occupant over 5 years and achieve carbon neutrality
Priorities for 2009:
- Improve the collection of environmental data (quantity and quality)
- Reduce yearly CO2 emissions by 2% per occupant
Highlights in 2008
- Implementation of governing structures for the carbon neutrality project;
- Definition of best practices for carbon neutrality via the reporting tool;
- 94% of staff covered by the campaign to collect environmental data, i.e. an increase of 14% on 2007 (excluding Rosbank which is too recent an acquisition to be included in the Group's 2008 reporting).
Environmental incentives
The fight against climate change is a major environmental priority. Today, more and more companies are taking measures to reduce their energy consumption and contribute towards the fight against climate change by using the mechanisms in place to offset their residual CO2 emissions. The offsetting of Société Générale Group's carbon emissions was approved by the Executive Committee which has set a target of an 11% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions per person over a period of 5 years (2008-2012), and which has validated the gradual offsetting of residual emissions in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2012.A strict plan of action
Under the slogan of "Eviter – Compenser – Réduire" (Avoid – Offset – Reduce), the Group's carbon neutrality project is based around three core pillars:- A plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions which includes:
- the consideration of target reductions in CO2 emissions when approving other Group projects;
- a study of the feasibility of implementing internal penalties to incite the different business lines to manage their emissions more effectively (over the course of 2009). The payment by the Group of the costs incurred by the voluntary offsetting of carbon emissions during the first year was deemed essential in order to underline its commitment (for the central services departments in France);
- the constant upgrading of reporting systems in order to improve the scope and accuracy of the data available: a study into the feasibility of measuring the consumption of fluids in real time is planned for 2009.
- A mechanism to offset carbon emissions via the purchase of emission credits (notably through its subsidiary, orbeo, which is a major player on the carbon emissions market in Europe), and via the involvement of the Group's entities and divisions according to their individual objectives.
- Permanent communication initiatives to heighten staff awareness of the importance of climate change and the carbon economy (via the organisation of events in France and around the world such as the Poznan Conference) and to highlight and report on the most successful initiatives in place (SGBT and Euro-VL Luxembourg, Komerční banka, Green electricity).
Resources mobilised
Société Générale Group has mobilised technical and human resources alike to ensure the success of its carbon plan. These include:- A dedicated supervisory committee which regroups the Heads of Sustainable Development of several entities and divisions and whose role is to oversee the implementation of the Group's plan and report on its concrete progress
- A transverse Environment unit to coordinate the different measures and ensure that decision-makers and operational staff share the information they need
- A data collection tool, Planethic© Reporting, set up in 2005 to record the Group's consumption of energy, water and raw materials as well as the waste generated. The scope (94% of the Group's payroll excluding Rosbank) and accuracy of the data collected has been constantly improved
** As per our commitment under the Global Compact