Environmental policies & guidelines

Through its commitment to the environment, embodied in its environmental policy, UBS aims to create long-term value for the firm and its clients and the communities they live in.

UBS's environmental policy is based on five principles, under which the firm is continuously:

seeking to consider environmental risks in all UBS businesses, especially in lending, investment banking, advisory and research, and UBS’s own investments;
seeking to pursue opportunities in the financial markets for environmentally friendly products and services, such as socially responsible investments;
seeking ways to reduce UBS’s direct environmental impact on air, soil and water from in-house operations, with a primary focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. UBS also assesses the environmental impact of its suppliers’ products and services;
ensuring efficient implementation of UBS’s policy through a global environmental management system certified according to ISO 14001 – the international environmental management standard;
integrating environmental considerations into internal communications and training.

Five principles of UBS's environmental policy

Primary responsibility for implementing the environmental policy lies within the divisions which develop, where appropriate, further policies and processes that are tailored to their needs. In addition, UBS's environmental policy is further supplemented by groupwide guidelines and standards that address specific environmental issues across the firm:

UBS has developed internal industry sector guidelines to support the consistent identification and assessment of environmental and social risks in all its banking activities. The sector guidelines cover industry sectors that have a high potential for environmental and social risk including chemicals, oil and gas, utilities, infrastructure, forestry products and biofuels and metals and mining. The guidelines summarize industry standards for dealing with these issues in the various life cycles of the sector.
Responsible supply chain guideline UBS has adopted a supply chain guideline that provides group-wide guidance for identifying, assessing and monitoring supplier practices in the areas of human and labor rights, the environment and corruption.
Standard for energy efficiency: UBS has adopted a technical standard supporting worldwide oversight of measures taken to improve energy efficiency in fields such as building operation, replacement investments and rehabilitations. The standard sets energy efficiency target values, for example for heating boilers, chillers and heat pump systems as well as for glazing, facades and lighting. It generally applies to all owned buildings, whereas in leased buildings applicability is limited to UBS's sphere of influence as a tenant.