Own emissions reduction plans

The greenhouse gas emissions that the Intesa Sanpaolo Group reports as CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) in accordance with the international Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) are made up of direct Scope1 emissions (heating fuel, fleet, F-GAS leaks ) and indirect Scope2 emissions (central air conditioning system and electricity).

Since 2009 Intesa Sanpaolo has pursued medium-to-long-term goals to reduce its own emissions with action plans centred on energy savings, economic savings and lowering of CO₂ emissions.

With the Climate Change Action Plan, in 2017 it set itself CO₂ emissions reduction goals connected with its activities for 2022 and 2037, taking 2012 as its benchmark year. Considering also the expansion of the reporting scope following the acquisition of the UBI Banca Group, the targets for 2022 were met comfortably.

UN SDGs SUPPORTED

The self-production of energy from renewable sources comes from the photovoltaic plants in Italy, 9 of which with a capacity under 20 kWp and 10 of large size, and from two plants in Slovenia. In 2022 the Intesa Sanpaolo Group self-produced 1,344 MWh of energy, saving around 186,000 euro on the purchase of electricity and avoiding 633 tonnes of CO₂ emissions.

Given its participation in the Net-Zero Banking Alliance and the increasing strategic significance of the issue of CO₂ emissions, in 2022 Intesa Sanpaolo published a new plan, the Own Emissions Plan in replacement of the previous Climate Change Action Plan, setting new targets for 2030 that also respect the requirements of the SBTi.

The Group’s strategy to reduce Scope 1 and 2 own emissions produced significant results in the reduction of its energy consumption in 2022 as well, in accordance with the goals set in the Plan.

The reduction of thermal energy consumption was influenced by various factors as well as the Group’s emissions reduction target, international energy crisis and the national regulations aimed at reducing energy consumption and the opening of the new high-performance trigeneration power plant at the Parma site which, though making it possible to produce over 25 GWh of electricity, also resulted in an increase in gas consumption.

Scope 1 + Scope 2 Market-based: the Scope 2 data on purchased electricity considers the contribution, agreed contractually, of the guaranteed renewable source certificates, which therefore have zero emissions.Contributing factors to the reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions include the continuous improvement in energy efficiency, the increase in purchases of electricity from renewable sources by the international subsidiaries, and the commercial reorganisation that took place during the year (sale of former UBI Group branches and closures due to mergers). 

Footnote:

(1) Fluorinated gases used as refrigerants in the refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump sector (e.g. hydrofluorocarbons, HFCs), isolation gases in electricity grid connections (e.g. sulphur hexafluoride, SF6) and in the electronics and pharmaceuticals sectors (e.g. perfluorocarbons, PFCs).