Alina Oprea • 15 June, 2023 at 5:30 PM
BRD – Groupe Société Générale granted sustainable financing of RON1.1 billion (€220 million) in 2022. Last year, BRD launched its first green lending products for individuals. The BRD Group also reduced its energy consumption in 2022 by 12.5% and, at the same time, the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from operations. BRD - Groupe Société Générale launched the sustainability report for 2022 under the title "With a step into the future". The document presents the bank's non-financial activities of the past year and its ESG efforts, which are carried out under the umbrella of the Lumea9 platform.
Digitization was also at the fore, with a 123% increase in digitally active customers over the last 4 years and fully digitized workflows for enrolment, personal loans, credit cards, and data updates.
"We aim to build and contribute, together with our partners, to the growth of a space dedicated to ideas and solutions capable of helping the economy and society move forward faster. The BRD Group reduced its energy consumption in 2022 by 12.5% compared to 2021. We also managed to reduce GHG emissions from our operations compared to 2021 and launched our first green credits for individuals. We have achieved our stated goals for digital transformation, the launch of customer enrollment and remote consumer lending, as well as the increasing adoption of digital channels. We supported the distribution and supply of electricity and natural gas during the energy crisis that hit Europe in 2022 by granting loans worth more than €600 million. In terms of ratings, we are among the eight BSE-listed companies that entered the Sustainalytics analysis at the beginning of 2022, achieving top sustainability scores. These are just some of the most important aspects of BRD's work towards sustainability in 2022. But a positive change requires the contribution of us all: individuals, authorities, companies, and civil society", said François Bloch, CEO of BRD - Groupe Société Generals.
In terms of reducing the impact of its own operations, BRD saved 150,000 KWh annually just by replacing and optimizing the UPSs in the BRD Tower. In total, BRD reduced its total energy consumption by 12.5% compared to 2021 (-13% in electricity, -10.2% in heating).
Another important objective in the bank's ESG strategy is maintaining and constantly raising its standards as a responsible employer. Thus, BRD assumes the responsibility of creating a work environment in which employees can develop their full potential and contribute to the success of the organization. The most important action in this regard was, in 2022, the "Climate Fresk" training program, aimed at developing the necessary knowledge to generate ideas and initiatives that contribute to limiting the negative effects of climate change.
The social impact of BRD also increased in 2022, reaching more than 3.5 million people in the area of cultural projects alone. Through Foundation 9 and the Lumea9 sustainability platform, new events and projects in culture, art, film, music, environment, tech, education, and sport were organized and supported.
Lumea9 is the sustainability platform that brings together all the themes that BRD considers important for building a better future, from a sustainable economy, banking products, and services with a positive impact, on education, culture, society, science, technology, environment, and biodiversity.
The most important event of 2022 in sustainability was the Climate Change Summit (CCS), initiated in partnership with Social Innovation Solutions. CCS is the first summit dedicated to climate change, aiming to become the most relevant regional conference on climate change solutions, bringing expertise from around the world and the brightest minds from Romania (over 800 offline participants and speakers and 766,000 online viewers at the first edition). As part of the event, the biggest foresight exercise about Romania's future occurred: "Climate Scenarios for Romania - 2030".
The 2022 sustainability report - "With a Step into the Future" is the second published by the BRD Group. The document was developed to the requirements of Romanian legislation regarding non-financial reporting and based on the GRI Standards