Global Eco-efficiency Plan
In 2008 BBVA launched the Global Eco-efficiency Plan (PGE), becoming the first Spanish financial institution to launch an initiative of this kind. The plan includes a number of goals for 2008-2012 in terms of reducing direct environmental impact, including:
- 20% reduction in CO2 emissions (per employee)
- 10% reduction in paper consumption (per employee)
- 7% reduction in water consumption (per employee)
- 2% reduction in energy consumption (per employee)
- 20% increase in the number of employees working in ISO 14001 certified buildings
- gold LEED certification for the new corporate headquarters
The following graphs show the performance of these indicators in 2011:
Electricity consumption
Water consumption
Paper consumption
CO2 emissions
Also, in 2011 certificates were awarded for 11 new buildings in accordance with environmental management standard ISO 14001, which raises the number of certified buildings to 36. A total of 20,267 employees work in these certified buildings, representing 23.83% of the total workforce. The 2012 goal has therefore already been fulfilled before the planned date. Several of the Group’s buildings are also being built in accordance with the LEED sustainable building certificate standards, such as the new BBVA Compass corporate headquarters in Houston, and the Group’s recently-opened training center in Madrid, Campus La Moraleja. These certificates are in addition to the one already awarded to the BBVA headquarters in Asunción (Paraguay).
Climate change
BBVA is strategically committed to providing funding and advice on renewable energy operations, a sector which it leads and where in 2011 alone it financed and advised the installation of over 2,797 MW. In total, in 2011 BBVA’s volume of investment in renewable energy operations totaled more than €1,000 million. In this process, BBVA received the most prestigious recognition in the industry. In 2010 it was the number one advisor in the Mergers and Acquisitions of Renewable Energy global ranking and at the beginning of 2011 received the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Award for reaching the top spot. The economic news agency drew up this ranking based on the volume of operations during the year, where BBVA advised transactions for a total value of $1,145 million.
The database specialist Dealogic again highlighted the strength of BBVA in funding renewable energy projects in the first half of 2011. BBVA was given the second spot in this ranking, for its part in the funding major projects in Europe, Asia and the Americas. By type of renewable energy, according to the Infrastructure Journal, BBVA is in third place globally in wind energy and leads the rankings in solar and photovoltaic power.