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ENVIRONMENT

 

Nedbank - Power to the People
One of the two solar billboards that Nedbank
has supported

Overview

Environment Responsible business principles

No business can afford to ignore the environmental impact of its operations. This has become increasingly clear in recent years as the full extent of the threat posed by climate change becomes evident. At Old Mutual we have two major impacts as a business: direct impacts through the running of our offices and branches, and indirect impacts through the kinds of investments and purchasing decisions that we make.

For the past two years now we have undertaken a Group-wide carbon footprint study as part of our Carbon Disclosure Project submission. Read our 2009 submission.

Climate change is a huge issue that we believe can only be tackled in a collaborative way. We signed the Poznan Communiqué at the end of 2008, and have recently signed the Copenhagen Communiqué calling for an equitable deal ahead of the United Nations climate change conference in December. The initiative led by the Prince of Wales Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change calls for agreement on principles and mechanisms that will form the basis of a new climate change agreement to come into place after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

For more information on the Copenhagen Communiqué please go to www.copenhagencommunique.com.

We worked with the FORGE Group - an informal group of UK-based banks and insurance companies - to produce a framework for managing climate change risk in the financial sector. The framework lays out some practical ways that financial services companies can meet the challenges this issue brings to their businesses. We have circulated it throughout our business units to help inform their approach. Download more information about the framework.

How we manage environmental issues at Old Mutual

Each of our business units has a named individual who is responsible for managing the environmental impact of its operations. As a Group we support them in this by providing training to relevant personnel. This includes sessions on energy efficiency and climate change as well as on environmental management systems. We also have a Group environmental policy, created in 2002, which covers all business units. This commits them to:

  • Minimising the consumption of energy, water and materials
  • Minimising solid waste generation by waste re-use and recycling wherever possible;
  • Avoiding the use of materials that may cause harm to the environment;
  • Promoting internal awareness of environmental issues among employees;
  • Supporting environmental initiatives by employees and relevant external groups;
  • Engaging with our stakeholders on environmental performance.

You can read more specific information about the environmental performance of Old Mutual South Africa and Nedbank in their own reports.

Minimising the environmental impact of our operations

The first step to minimising environmental impacts is to understand what these impacts are. Over the last year we have developed a series of robust measures to give us a baseline against which we can measure performance. We have identified our key impact areas as energy use, water and waste. We work to engage and influence our employees, our customers and suppliers to reduce their impact on the environment through educational initiatives, products and supply chain management.

Energy use and procurement

We are now able to track and centrally report energy use at many of our sites. For sites that we own, we are able to follow this up by undertaking efficiency reviews and working with third parties towards reducing our energy use. Our building management staff take responsibility for this, raising awareness of energy saving initiatives and if necessary, altering buildings. For sites that we rent rather than own, we concentrate on educating staff about efficiency initiatives.

Water consumption

Water consumption across Old Mutual increased in 2006 and, as a result, we implemented awareness programmes with tenants and employees to manage their future water usage. These programmes are making progress and, in addition, building managers around the Group are continuing to investigate technology to reduce water usage.

Waste

We track both the amount of waste produced on our sites and the amount we recycle, and regularly report this information to the Board.

There are recycling systems in place across many of our offices. For example during 2007 we implemented a building-wide initiative at our London Head Office which successfully increased the amount of recycling. This targeted office waste putting in place systems for recycling paper and toner cartridges, and also canteen waste.

We ensure that offices try to recycle office equipment that is no longer required rather than throwing it away. For example, at our head office, when renewing our hardware, old PCs are cleared of memory so that they can be donated to charities or schools.

Where we do not own buildings ourselves and so cannot implement our own scheme we work with other tenants to ensure that employees are encouraged to reduce the amount of office waste that they produce.

Environmental Management Systems

An Environmental Management System is a structured framework designed to help an organisation to manage the environmental impact of its day to day operations. We have Environmental Management Systems (EMS) in place at many of our sites; currently over 50% of our employees are covered by a recognised EMS. Although each one is site-specific, many of these systems follow ISO 14001 guidelines - internationally recognised standards for an EMS.

Each EMS has a monitoring system in place and performance data is collated and compared to the site targets. Data disclosure occurs at both OMSA and Nedbank through their individual reports.

Managing the impacts of our investment decisions

One way that we impact the environment indirectly is through the decisions we make about the kinds of companies and projects that we will or will not invest in. As well as assessing financial risk, we need take account of the reputational risks associated with financing deals that might have a negative environmental impact, for example if they involve significant deforestation or heavy pollution.

Equator Principles

Nedbank was the first African bank to sign up to the Equator Principles. In 2007 Nedbank ran a two day training session for key employees on the implementation of the principles. In 2009 it plans to run further training to increase awareness of the principles specifically amongst senior management. Read more about Nedbank's approach.