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Inhouse ecology

We are committed to environmental and climate protection, with the goal of keeping environmental impacts as low as possible. We therefore work to continuously improve our sustainability standards and the main environmental parameters in the most relevant areas.

CO2e emissions of RBI 2023

The environmental management system in Austria is based on international standards (e.g. ISO 14001). This is not a matter of merely fulfilling legal requirements or standards, but rather one of optimizing the use of energy and resources, and as such, is a task of sustainable resource utilization. The network banks are conscious of their responsibility for the environment and are working to continuously improve this.

The graphic below shows the environmentally-relevant areas of RBI 2022 and their impact on CO2e emissions.

co2 emmisions pic

Average CO2e emissions (calculated using the emission factors ecoinvent v3.8) for 2022 amounted to 89,378 tons (location-based). Particularly relevant is the division of the emissions into three „Scopes“, which define the classification of the CO2e emissions according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol:

  • Scope 1 comprises all greenhouse gas emissions produced directly in the company, e.g. from the combustion of stationary sources (such as power plants, boilers), from the combustion of mobile sources (such as from the company’s own fleet), from the production processes and from transient emissions.
  • Scope 2 comprises indirect emissions that arise from the company being supplied with energy, i.e. when an energy supplier provides a company with power or heat.
  • Scope 3 comprises all other emissions caused within the limits of the system, e.g. by business travel, office supplies (including paper) and waste. However, the use of energy also causes Scope 3 emissions due to transmission losses, for example.

Of this figure 12.043 tons CO2e (14 per cent) were allocated to Scope 1, 33,526 tons (37 per cent) to Scope 2 (location-based), and 43,450 tons to Scope 3 (48 per cent).

How we contribute

Average CO2e emissions (calculated using the emission factors ecoinvent v3.8) for 2023 amounted to 89,378 tons (t) (location-based), an increase of 6 per cent compared to 2020 (the base year). Of this total, 12,403 tons or 14 per cent of CO2e emissions are attributable to Scope 1, 33,526 tons (38 per cent) to Scope 2 (location-based) and 43,450 tons to Scope 3 (49 per cent).1 The biggest reduction compared to 2020 was in Scope 2 (down 29 per cent). In Scope 3, emissions have increased by 42 per cent since 2020, while Scope 1 has seen an increase of 94 per cent. Scope 1-3 emissions rose by 28 per cent compared to the previous year.

Data quality is collected on the basis of three grades: The best data quality is 1 (exact), followed by 2 (calculated) and 3 (estimated). For RBI‘s operational ecology data, the value is exact and calculated. No areas are classified in the lowest category 3 (estimated) in terms of their data quality.

At 45,016 tCO2e, energy consumption accounts for around 50 per cent of location-based emissions (down 8 per cent compared to the previous year and 27 per cent compared to 2020) and is the biggest source of emissions for RBI. Despite the stricter calculation factors and a renewed increase in the use of office buildings, energy consumption has decreased significantly. The emissions arise in Scope 2 in particular, but also in Scopes 1 and 3. RBI’s total energy consumption was around 184 GWh in 2023. The average energy consumption per employee per year is 4,332 kWh. RBI’s proportion of green electricity is 48 per cent.

Business travel generates 17,222 tCO2e, which equates to around 19 per cent of emissions (97 per cent more than in the previous year and 70 per cent more than in 2020). As a result, this became the third-ranking source of emissions at RBI in 2023. It arises in both Scope 1 and Scope 3. Business travel at RBI amounted to around 51 million pkm in 2023 (passenger kilometers; pkm are calculated on the basis of the number of persons carried and the distance covered). The average per employee per year is 1,208 pkm, an increase of 55 per cent.

At 5,376 tCO2e (26 per cent more than in the previous year and 24 per cent more than in 2020), waste accounts for around six per cent of emissions. The impacts are solely in Scope 3. The quantity of waste produced at RBI in 2023 amounts to around 6,800 per year or 153 kg per employee, of which around 96 per cent is non-hazardous waste. Around 62 per cent of waste is taken to landfill sites, approximately 19 per cent is incinerated and around 15 per cent is recycled. Electrical devices account for approximately four per cent.

At 19,501 tCO2e, material consumption accounts for around 22 per cent of emissions (up 224 per cent on the previous year and 156 per cent compared to 2020), making it the second biggest source of emissions. The impacts are solely in Scope 3. The proportion of recycled materials in paper purchasing is 69 per cent. In total, RBI used around 904 tonnes of paper in 2023, which is down on the previous year’s level. Paper consumption per employee therefore amounted to only 4,254 sheets per year.

Water use takes last place at 0.1 tCO2e, thereby causing almost zero per cent of all emissions (11 per cent more than in the previous year and 18 per cent less than in 2020). The effects are exclusively apparent in Scope 3. Total water consumption in 2023 amounted to 284 million liters, or 6,658 liters per employee per year, which was a marginal increase.

Parcel delivery and the transport of goods account for one per cent of emissions at 860 tCO2e (14 per cent more than in the previous year and 18 per cent more than in 2020). The km/tkm values reported in the supplier survey were collected internally but not included due to insufficient verifiability. The impacts of the emissions are primarily in Scope 3.

Policies and targets

The central tool for the implementation and further development of the environmental targets is our Environmental Management System in Austria, which is operated in accordance with the requirements of ISO 14001 (certified since 1998).
In general, energy efficiency, renewable energy, environmentally friendly mobility and sustainable purchasing are particularly important in corporate environmental protection. Because of RBI’s carbon footprints energy consumption and the mobility sector are the two most essential areas for action. Therefore these are key factors for attaining the environmental targets.

The Environment Committee, the Group Sustainability Management Department and Facility Management as well as the Sustainability Officers of the network banks are responsible for implementing and evaluating the achievement of targets. Base year for targets is 2011.

The Environmental Policy is part of our sustainability agenda and forms the basis for our environmental management.

The central measures in the environmental areas of greatest importance for RBI are presented in brief in enclosed overview.

The inhouse ecology key figures of RBI and RBI AG are shown in the following table.