Environmental Management Cycle

Annual objectives - Plan

The Group Executive Board is responsible for approving the annual Environmental Group Priorities. In-line with these priorities the Business Group Environmental Representatives submit annual objectives to the appropriate Business Group committees.

The annual objective-setting process is based upon the analysis of the environmental impact of bank products (as applied to environmental, banking and reputation risks), the environmental performance evaluation of in-house operations (i.e. analysis of the most important energy and materials flows) and the monitoring of compliance with legal and other requirements.

Organization and implementation - Do

The Business Group Environmental Representatives are responsible for the implementation of the environmental policy within his or her Business Group. They ensure that appropriate resources are allocated within their Business Group to manage environmental issues arising in risk control, in product development and distribution, and in logistics and infrastructure.

Controlling and audits - Check

UBS has been tracking comprehensive quantitative indicators since 1999 to help measure, monitor and improve the performance of its environmental management.

The annual external and internal environmental audits relating to banking activities and in-house operations are of special significance. Their results provide an important basis for the evaluation of the environmental management system and planning for future programs.

Management review - Act

The Business Group Environmental Representatives update their appropriate committees and the Group Environmental Representative via an annual Business Group management review. The Group Environmental Representative then updates the Group Executive Board via the annual ISO 14001 Management Review, informs on the degree of implementation of the environmental policy and on environmental audit results, and submits general environmental priorities. To keep the Group Executive Board up to date with developments in environmental performance throughout the year, environmental aspects are integrated in internal quarterly reporting processes.