DZ BANK Group, which includes DZ BANK AG, R+V Versicherung, Union Investment and Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall, supports the German government's climate protection plan and the Paris Agreement to limit the global temperature increase to well below 2 degrees - ideally 1.5 degrees - Celsius. With 2009 as our baseline year DZ BANK Group, which accounts for a total of around 34,000 employees, has already reduced its CO2 emissions in business operations by almost 50 percent. In addition to switching to green electricity or increasing the efficiency of heat generation and distribution, key factors here have been reducing business travel, partially converting the vehicle fleet to e-mobility, holding online or hybrid events instead of face-to-face events, and reducing commuter emissions by increasing mobile working.

Climate neutrality by 2045 represents the minimum Group-wide target. Entities of DZ BANK Group can voluntarily achieve emissions reductions more quickly.

The primary goal in the Group is to avoid or reduce emissions from operations. Offsets can be used by the individual entities if necessary, but are not the focus of efforts to achieve climate neutrality.

DZ BANK Group presents the greenhouse gas emissions of its business operations as CO2 equivalents. The emissions recorded are those resulting from direct combustion, including fuel consumption in the vehicle fleet and coolant losses (Scope 1), emissions resulting from electricity and district heating consumption (Scope 2), and emissions arising in upstream and downstream stages of the value chain in the categories of business travel and commuter traffic, paper consumption, waste generation, water consumption, events, mail dispatch, and mobile work (Scope 3). DZ BANK Group aims to continuously improve data quality.

* FTE = full-time equivalent (total workforce capacity converted into full-time employees)

** Key figures for 2020 and 2021 were adjusted retroactively due to an expansion of the scope