The company discloses the extent to which natural resources are used for the company’s business activities. Possible options here are materials, the input and output of water, soil, waste, energy, land and biodiversity as well as emissions for the life cycles of products and services.
Ecological responsibility is an important pillar of the sustainable activities within OLB and is lived in the entire Bank, as already described above, by considering the relevant environmental matters. Being a financial services provider, the Bank uses already less resources than other sectors of the economy. A respectful and careful use of resources is very important to OLB and its employees and forms an integral part of the Bank’s Code of Conduct which is specified and regularly reviewed by the entire Board of Directors. In the context of its environmental concept, OBL generally sees options for exerting influence on the operational management and, in particular on the ecological behaviour of its staff which it continuously promotes by giving information and motivation. For instance, the Bank names, as one of its most important objectives, inter alia, the end-to-end digitalisation of its processes which, as a consequence, results in a noticeable reduction of its consumption of paper. The ecological figures determined in its operation are published on the Intranet on an annual basis and thus made known to all employees.
In addition to an ecologically conscious behaviour of its employees, OLB also sees options to exert influence in relation to sustainability along the value chain, for example in the field of purchasing when it considers these aspects during the election of its service providers. The subject of sustainability is also taken into account when selecting providers for the procurement of advertising materials (in particular in the selection of such materials). Service agreements concluded, for example with cleaning and transport logistics companies, are constantly subject to revision. A permanent control also takes place for facility management, planned business trips and the paper consumption with a view to reducing waste and making use of savings options. Quality and certification must be ensured when paper is ordered from regional suppliers. OLB procures its electricity from EWE, which is the biggest electricity provider for OLB, and such electricity is generated by up to 100 % from renewable energy. For information on the scope of the mentioned resources, reference is made, in particular, to the performance indicators GRI SRS-301-1 Materials Used, GRI SRS-302-1 Energy Consumption and GRI SRS-306-2 Waste. Essential risks which are likely to have serious negative effects on environmental matters could not be found.
OLB has been measuring and analysing figures on the use of essential natural resources since the year 2006, including heating energy, electricity, paper and water. The Bank derives measures from recognisable developments which are described in more detail in the subsequent sections of this report. OLB has, as a whole, been able to reduce its emission of carbon dioxide (CO2 emissions) per employee by 55 % from 3,778 kilogrammes (kg) in the year 2006 to 1,715 kg in 2020.
For methodical reasons, the Bank has only been measuring environmental risks arising from its direct business. A methodical expansion of such measurement will be verified in the context of the sustainability initiatives planned by the Bank.