Energy efficiency: Groupe BPCE reasserts its commitment to the climate
In order to meet current energy challenges, Groupe BPCE is rolling out a voluntary energy efficiency plan fully aligned with the climate component of its strategic plan.
With its signature of the Ecowatt charter on October 11, Groupe BPCE, a cooperative and decentralized banking group, gave a clear sign of its determination to join in the national effort required of public and private players to ensure the security of electricity supply in France. Building on its strong local and regional presence throughout the country, it has set up a voluntary energy efficiency plan with its companies. This plan is focused, at present, on two main areas: the running of its buildings and the operation of its IT systems, two areas that account for the bulk of its consumption of electricity. The plan includes a number of concrete, high-impact actions that will be implemented throughout the Group by its companies in accordance with their respective needs and possibilities. These include limiting the temperature of premises, temporarily closing certain buildings, switching off our illuminated signs at late hours, and taking measures to optimize the air-conditioning networks in our data centers.
The aim of these collective measures is to reduce the Group's energy consumption by 10% by 2024, i.e. by an amount equivalent to the annual energy consumption of a town of 20,000 inhabitants.
The plan is also being supported by a strong awareness-raising drive among employees through communication and information campaigns designed to remind them, on an individual basis, of the everyday eco-friendly actions they can take to consume less and more efficiently.
This commitment is perfectly in line with the Group's longer-term approach to climate protection, one of the priorities of its BPCE 2024 strategic plan that sets out to align its direct or indirect carbon footprint with an environmentally sustainable scenario. In addition to the actions taken with its customers to support them in their own transition processes, Groupe BPCE is committed to reducing its own footprint by 15% by 2024 compared with a 2019 benchmark. To learn more about Groupe BPCE’s CSR approach.