Our operations
We have the most direct responsibility to tackle environmental challenges inside our own operations. Our operational environmental strategy around our operations is based on three main pillars: optimising infrastructure efficiency, supporting green mobility and streamlining our consumption.
Principles in action
Because you can only change what you measure, in 2007 we began to calculate the Group’s CO2 emissions. An ambitious objective was set at the time to reduce the average carbon footprint per employee by 40% before 2020. Reducing our footprint further, especially in absolute terms given our growth, will require stronger ambitions as far as our infrastructure, mobility and consumption as a firm are concerned.
Three main pillars
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Use an efficient infrastructure
We employ a range of solutions to increase the energy efficiency of Pictet’s head office in Geneva, so that we can avoid using fossil fuels and cut down on CO2 emissions.
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Support green mobility
From March to November, free bikes and e-bikes are available to employees. Employees who give up their parking spot benefit from free public transportation pass.
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Optimise our consumption
350 video conferencing facilities have been installed across the Pictet Group. Because of the pandemic, visio conferencing became a day-to-day tool last year, with more than 80,000 hours’ use per month.
Use an efficient infrastructure
We built our Geneva headquarters in 2006 with sustainability in mind. At the time – a full nine years before the Paris Agreement of 2015 – this kind of consideration was still rare. Our objective to reduce our CO2 emissions per employee by 40% by 2020 has been broadly achieved, with a 73% reduction, as you can see below. However, this result is a direct consequence of the pandemic, which resulted in a sharp decrease in business travel (-83% in 2020 compared to 2019). Now that the target of CO2 reduction has been achieved for 2007–2020, we have set new targets for the decade 2020–2030. In line with our SBTi pledge, Pictet aims to reduce its direct greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 by 55% compared to 2019 levels. All direct and indirect emissions generated by our value chain have been offset since 2014. Pictet will continue offsetting these emissions but take a more impactful approach.
Energy efficiency in 2023
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52,511In kWhProduced energy, the equivalent of recharging more than 1,300 average electric cars
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85,654LitresFuel oil saved every year on average thanks to the heat transfer system between our Geneva buildings
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600In square metersSize of solar air conditioning plant on the roof of Pictet’s headquarters in Geneva
Sources of emissions in 2023
| 2023 | 2022 | 2019 (BY) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tCO2e | (% of total) | tCO2e | tCO2e | ||||
| Scope 1 | Building-related combustion | 870.3 | 1.6% | 841.6 | 743.5 | ||
| Fugitive emissions | 100.9 | 0.2% | 152.5 | 1,386.9 | |||
| Company and leased cars | 358.2 | 0.6% | 183.1 | 78.2 | |||
| Scope 2 | Electricity (market-based) | 568.9 | 1.0% | 1,103.6 | 1,524.5 | ||
| Electricity (location-based) | 2,498.6 | 4.5% | 2,836.1 | 2,905.0 | |||
| District heating | 535.0 | 1.0% | 499.4 | 385.4 | |||
| Scope 3 | Cat 1 - Purchased goods & services | 21,228.1 | 38.1% | 18,827.2 | 23,957.0 | ||
| Cat 2 - Capital goods | 14,436.7 | 25.9% | 16,694.3 | 7,763.3 | |||
| Cat 3- Fuel and energy-related activities | 1,239.8 | 2.2% | 1,309.8 | 1,136.6 | |||
| Cat 5 - Waste | 76.5 | 0.1% | 92.4 | 106.5 | |||
| Cat 6 - Business Travels | 13,953.7 | 25.0% | 9,203.2 | 16,389.9 | |||
| Cat 7 - Employee commuting | 2,257.4 | 4.0% | 3,063.8 | 2,727.9 | |||
| Cat 8 - Upstream leased assets | 143.6 | 0.3% | 121.9 | 100.0 | |||
| Total Scope 1, 2 (market-based) | 2,433.3 | 4.4% | 2,780.0 | 4,118.4 | |||
| Total Scope 3 | 53,335.7 | 95.6% | 49,312.5 | 52,181.2 | |||
| Total Operational emissions (market-based) | 55,769.0 | 100% | 52,092.5 | 56,299.5 | |||
To establish its emissions, Pictet follows the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (GHG Protocol). These generally accepted GHG accounting and reporting principles are intended to guide the GHG reporting process to ensure: (1) the reported information represents a faithful, true, and fair account of Pictet’s GHG emissions; and (2) the reported information is credible and unbiased in its treatment and presentation of the issues. | |||||||
Videoconferencing
For the last decade, long before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Pictet has constantly been expanding its videoconferencing systems with the aim of reducing its carbon emissions linked to business travel. Because of the pandemic, video conferencing became a day-to-day tool for all Pictet staff worldwide last year, with more than 80,000 hours’ use per month. The Bank continues to promote its use as an alternative to long-distance or commuter travel.
Promoting soft mobility
We encourage our employees to opt for soft mobility solutions for commuting to and from work. There are various benefits available to employees at our Geneva head office:
- Free recharging stations for electric bikes and cars
- Free public transport for all employees (except for those who have a parking spot)
- A partnership with Genève Roule, a local association that provides electric bikes
For the past five years, Genève Roule has provided Pictet employees with electric bikes. Pictet employees can use one of these bikes free of charge during lunch breaks, evenings or even weekends.
Understanding and managing waste
In our quest to minimise the direct impact of our business, and the impact of our employees, we also launched a landmark campaign in 2018 to cut our single-use plastic consumption. We identified two main sources of plastic waste – our employee restaurants and offices supplies – and put in place more sustainable alternatives. Thanks to this initiative, the Pictet Group reduced the use of disposable plastic by 90% in just 12 months. Quantis – a sustainable development consultancy – helped Pictet through this process to understand how companies deal with plastic waste.