UniCredit Joins WWF Earth Hour Initiative, Reinforcing Commitment to Sustainability

UniCredit Joins WWF Earth Hour Initiative, Reinforcing Commitment to Sustainability

(IN BRIEF) UniCredit, a prominent banking institution, is set to participate in the “WWF Earth Hour” initiative on March 23, 20.30 local time, for the 18th consecutive year. The bank will switch off lights in 33 of its buildings across ten countries, aligning with the WWF’s mission to raise awareness about environmental and climate protection. CEO Robert Zadrazil underscores UniCredit’s dedication to sustainability, highlighting significant reductions in CO2 emissions and innovative energy-saving campaigns. Furthermore, UniCredit emphasizes sustainable practices in its operations, such as promoting local, Fairtrade-certified products in collaboration with its canteen operator and supporting vegetarian menus. Fiona Melrose, Head of Group Strategy and ESG, reiterates UniCredit’s commitment to environmental stewardship, reflecting its participation in the Net Zero Banking Alliance and its ambitious targets for emissions reduction. Through initiatives like the Net Zero transition plan and signing the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge, UniCredit demonstrates its proactive approach to mitigating environmental impact and advancing sustainability goals.

(PRESS RELEASE) VIENNA, 23-Mar-2024 — /EuropaWire/ — Today, Saturday 23 March at 20.30 local time, the “WWF Earth Hour” will be celebrated for the 18th time. Once again, the lights will go out for one hour in thousands of businesses, landmarks and millions of homes on all continents. The aim of this initiative of the WWF is to draw attention to the urgency of environmental and climate protection and to jointly initiate positive changes in everyday life.

On 23 March, UniCredit will switch off the lights for one hour in a total of 33 bank buildings in ten countries, once again taking part in the “WWF Earth Hour”. At the UniCredit Bank Austria headquarters at the Austria Campus in Vienna, the lights have been switched off every night since 2022 in order to save energy. With its support for “WWF Earth Hour”, the company is once again setting a sign for climate protection this year.

Robert Zadrazil, CEO of UniCredit Bank Austria, emphasizes: “Sustainability plays a central role for us in all areas of the company. Through a variety of measures, we have already reduced our carbon footprint enormously in recent years, cutting our CO2 emissions by approx. 85 percent in the period from 2008 to the end of 2022. At the Austria Campus, we benefit from one of the largest geothermal systems in Europe, which we use for both heating and cooling. We are also taking the next steps with our current #save11% energy-saving campaign by reducing energy consumption in our branches and our headquarter by a further 11 percent.”

In addition, UniCredit Bank Austria, together with its canteen operator at the Austria Campus, is making a concrete contribution to this year’s focus topic of “sustainable nutrition”: according to the motto “think global, act local”, great value is placed on the local origin of the products used, where possible with the “Fairtrade” seal, by offering several vegetarian menus every day and generally paying attention to the responsible use of food as a valuable commodity.

Fiona Melrose, Head of Group Strategy and ESG at UniCredit, said: “We take part in Earth Hour every year because we know that organisations such as ours must lead by example in taking concerted action against climate change and nature loss. Our commitment to our communities, our people and our planet goes far beyond simply ticking a box – ESG principles represent one of the five strategic imperatives of our long-term UniCredit Unlocked strategy and we are embedding them in everything we do. To this end, we recently disclosed our inaugural Net Zero transition plan, which looks at how we integrate such considerations into all our core business activities, including the management of our own environmental footprint.”

UniCredit is striving to reduce its direct and indirect environmental impacts whilst playing an active role in Europe’s green transition. Having joined the Net Zero Banking Alliance in 2021, the bank has set Net Zero targets of 2030 for its own emissions and 2050 for its financed emissions portfolio. Since then, it has also set additional interim 2030 targets to reduce financed emissions in three of the most carbon-intensive sectors in its loan portfolio: Oil & Gas, Power Generation, and Automotive – adding targets for the Steel sector in January this year.

Moreover, UniCredit is working to contain its environmental footprint by procuring electricity from renewable sources, improving the energy efficiency of its premises and data centres, supporting its people with sustainable mobility solutions and sourcing from environmentally friendly suppliers. At the same time, the bank has reduced its own GHG emissions (scope 1 and 2, market-based) by 28% versus 2021.

To concretely demonstrate how ESG values are embedded across the bank, UniCredit has also signed up to the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge as the first bank from Italy at COP15 last year, among other commitments.

Our “2023 Integrated Report” describes in detail how we intend to create sustainable value over time under a common Purpose of Empowering Communities to Progress, as well as how we monitor the impact the bank’s activities have on Natural Capital.

More detail can be found on our dedicated microsite here.

Further information on “WWF Earth Hour 2024”: https://www.wwf.at/earthhour/

Media Contact:  

Matthias Raftl
tel.: +43 (0) 5 05 05-52809
E-mail: matthias.raftl@unicreditgroup.at

SOURCE: UniCredit Bank Austria AG