In-house environmental management

Reducing our environmental impact

We have been managing our internal environmental impact for decades. Since the 1970s, we have focused on improving energy efficiency, reducing consumption of paper and other resources, actively managing waste volumes and encouraging our employees to replace air travel with more sustainable options. We manage the UBS Environmental Program through an Environmental Management System in accordance with ISO 14001 and have greenhouse gas emissions data externally verified according to ISO 14064 standards.

Climate change strategy

In 2006, the GEB endorsed a firm-wide CO₂emission reduction target of 40% below 2004 levels by 2012 which was achieved in the reporting year. Steps taken towards achieving this target included adopting internal efficiency measures, increasing the proportion of renewable energy used and offsetting emissions we cannot avoid, such as business air travel. We have set a new target as part of our renewed climate change strategy and will aim to reduce our CO₂ emissions by a further 15% by 2016 resulting in an overall reduction of 50% below 2004 levels.

Energy, paper, waste and water targets

To complement our climate change strategy, we are committed to further reducing our environmental impact and set targets to reduce energy and paper consumption, waste management and water usage within three years on baseline year 2009. In 2012, we surpassed all of these targets except for the one/those set for waste recycling, as evidenced by the table below.

Environmental targets and performance in our operations

Performance against environmental targets 2012 and new targets 2013-2016
	2012	Target 2012	Baseline⁴	change from baseline	Target achievement 2012⁶	Target 2013-2016⁷
Total net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (GHG footprint) in t CO2e³	215,279	-40%	360,501⁵	-40%	Achieved	-50%⁵
Energy consumption in GWh	761	-10%	957	-21%	Achieved	-10%
Share of renewable energy	42%	increase	24%	73%	Achieved	increase
GHG offsetting (business air travel) in t CO2e	73,024	100%	0⁵	100%	Achieved	100%
Paper consumption in kg per FTE	122	stabilize	130	-6%	Achieved	-5%
Share of recycled and FSC paper	55.8%	50%	33.8%	65%	Achieved	60%
Waste in kg per FTE	230	stabilize	265	-13%	Achieved	-5%
Waste recycling ratio	54.2%	70%	54.4%	-0.3%	Not achieved	60%
Water consumption in m m3	1.95	-5%	2.55	-23%	Achieved	-5%

"Legend: CO2e = CO2 equivalents; FTE = full-time employee; GWh = giga watt hour; kWh = kilo watt hour; km = kilometer; kg = kilogram; m m3 = million cubic meter; t = tonne

1 Detailed environmental indicators according to the Global Reporting Initiative are available on the internet www.ubs.com/environment
2 Gross GHG emissions include: direct GHG emissions by UBS; indirect GHG emissions associated with the generation of imported / purchased electricity (grid average emission factor), heat or steam and other indirect GHG emissions associated with business travel, paper consumption and waste disposal.
3 GHG footprint equals gross GHG emissions minus GHG reductions from renewable energy and GHG offsets.
4 Baseline levels 2009 if not indicated otherwise
5 Baseline levels 2004
6 Green: target achieved / red: target not achieved
7 Baseline levels 2012 if not indicated otherwise"

Energy consumption time series