Environmental protection at BayernLB

Combating the effects of man-made climate change is already considered one of the greatest challenges facing society in the 21 ^st century, which is why BayernLB is particularly committed to actively protecting the climate. Reducing its direct and indirect carbon footprint is the centrepiece of efforts to improve BayernLB's environmental performance. In order to achieve this goal, BayernLB is pursuing a climate protection strategy with the following steps:

Step 1: Prevention

The first and most important step in implementing any climate protection strategy is to consistently avoid business-related CO ₂ emissions through active energy and resource management. To this end, BayernLB has introduced various measures in recent years, such as intelligent nocturnal energy reductions and heating period optimisation, which resulted in a 15.6% reduction in heating energy consumption in 2006 versus 2000.

Step 2: Substitution

As a second step, conventional energy sources have been replaced by renewables wherever possible. Since 1 January 2007, we have met 100% of our electricity requirements from certified hydroelectric power generated by hydroelectric plants along the High Rhine, between Lake Constance and Basel on the German-Swiss border.

Step 3: Offsetting

We have also decided to offset at least part of the CO ₂ emissions resulting from the unavoidable use of resources and have therefore neutralised the impact of the Group's paper consumption. For example, we purchased and cancelled out emissions certificates from an externally approved climate protection project in Eritrea for this purpose. The purpose of this project is to supply over half a million households with energy-efficient ovens, sparing the environment around 31,200 tonnes of CO ₂ equivalents from 2005 to 2008. In addition to reducing greenhouse gases, the project is also helping to promote Eritrea's long-term development: the decrease in air pollution and better hygiene will not only improve the health of the population but is also expected to reduce infant mortality. Another benefit of the project is that children who used to have to gather wood for fuel will now have more time for school or vocational training. With local inhabitants taking part in the project as employees, the country's economy should receive a long-term boost as well.

We will be following our environmental protection strategy no less stringently in the future, as it plays a key role in our corporate responsibility towards the world we live in.