Falling CO2 emissions from operations
Bern, 18.09.2024 - The Exemplary Energy and Climate initiative's 2023 Energy and Climate Report shows that the greenhouse emissions (Scope 1 and 2) from the operations of the 18 participating providers of publicly relevant services fell by 7% in total last year. In the report, the three institutional investors – SBB Pension Fund, PUBLICA and Suva – also published the results of the monitoring of their measures for the first time.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy shortages, the energy situation for the participants has now largely returned to normal. In 2023, the final energy consumption of the providers of publicly relevant services stood at around 7160 GWh, of which 4614 GWh (just under 65%) came from renewable sources.
They managed to reduce their Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 by a total of 7% compared with the previous year (from 632,700 to 590,300 t CO2eq). This was primarily due to the switch to renewable energies for heating and travel. Around 40% of thermal energy now comes from renewable sources. To continue to increase this proportion in the future, one action taken by some providers of publicly relevant services in the reporting year was to contact the landlords of their leased properties to request that fossil-fuel-powered heating systems be replaced.
Switch to 100% renewable electricity by 2026
While the average final energy consumption for these participants in 2023 remained more or less unchanged compared with the previous year, there is a slight upward trend in the consumption of electricity due to the increasing use of electric vehicles and heat pumps. The aim is that 100% of electricity should come from renewable sources by 2026. To date, not all the providers of publicly relevant services have achieved this. This is due to the restricted availability of renewable electricity.
Compared with 2022, greenhouse gas emissions from business travel rose by 19% (from 58,000 to 69,000 t CO2eq). This increase can in part be attributed to the further lifting of global travel restrictions. At the same time, some participants succeeded in reducing their business travel-related emissions.
In the report, the providers of publicly relevant services also disclose the extent to which they have implemented the 15 joint measures. The areas in which they have made the most progress are energy-efficient new buildings and the installation of heating systems that run on renewable forms of energy.
First monitoring results from institutional investors
The three institutional investors - SBB Pension Fund, PUBLICA and Suva - published the results of their monitoring for the first time in the Energy and Climate Report 2023. These participants have pledged to implement the following five measures:
- Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from directly held property
- Active dialogue with portfolio companies and exercise of voting rights
- Transparent disclosure of climate indicators in respect of equity and corporate bond holdings
- Climate criteria in the selection and monitoring of external asset managers
- Transparent communication between participants and their stakeholders
When it comes to their directly held property, the institutional investors plan to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by replacing fossil fuels with renewables and refurbishing the shells of old buildings. They have set themselves individual interim targets for the greenhouse gas intensity of directly held property in 2030. On average, these target values are 40% lower than the corresponding measured values at the end of 2023.
The institutional investors have a variety of climate indicators for their equity and corporate bond portfolios, such as, for example, the proportion of companies that have publicly committed themselves to net zero and verified interim targets. At the end of 2023, this proportion stood on average at 15%.
In addition, these participants plan to use their voting rights to steer the companies in their portfolios in a direction consistent with a goal of net zero by 2050. In all votes on climate resolutions in the reporting year, their voting behaviour was geared toward this goal.
About the initiative
Under the Exemplary Energy and Climate (EEC) initiative, providers of publicly relevant services and institutional investors are contributing to the Energy Strategy 2050 and the 2015 Paris Agreement. The focus is on energy efficiency, renewable energies and climate-friendly financial flows.
The providers of publicly relevant services are pursuing individual targets by 2026 and 2030 for energy efficiency, green electricity production, renewable heating and cooling, and renewable transport fuels. The goal is for the proportion of electricity from renewable sources to be 100 per cent for all these providers by no later than 2026. To reach these targets, the participants are implementing 15 joint measures and several individual measures.
The institutional investors are setting themselves targets for their investments to make the investments compatible with the Paris Agreement. Among other things, this involves the participating pension funds and insurance companies urging the companies in which they invest to act in a more climate-friendly way. They are also steadily reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of the directly held properties in their portfolios.
All participants report transparently on their target achievement and share their experiences so that other companies and organisations can follow their example.
The following participants are taking part in the initiative:
Providers of publicly relevant services
BLS, ETH Domain, Flughafen Zürich AG, Genève Aéroport, the Canton of Geneva, Swiss Post, PostBus and PostFinance, RUAG MRO Holding Ltd, SBB, SIG, Skyguide, SRG SSR, Suva, Swisscom, the university hospitals of Basel, Berne, Geneva and Lausanne, the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) and the Civil Federal Administration.
Institutional investors
SBB Pension Fund, PUBLICA and Suva
Information for media representatives
Further information can be found at https://www.vorbild-energie-klima.admin.ch/vbe/en/home.html. On request, we would be happy to provide you with high-resolution images and to arrange interview partners from the participants in the initiative.
Address for enquiries
Media department of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, +41 58 460 81 52, media@bfe.admin.ch
Stefanie Reding, Head of Office Exemplary Energy and Climate, +41 58 467 88 54, stefanie.reding@bfe.admin.ch
Publisher
Swiss Federal Office of Energy
http://www.bfe.admin.ch
General Secretariat of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications; General Secretariat DETEC
https://www.uvek.admin.ch/uvek/en/home.html
