Sustainable action for an environmentally conscious future
Protecting the climate and the environment is a central part of our responsibility as NORD/LB. As “bank of the energy transition”, we view sustainability as a strategic driver of opportunity and align our actions consistently with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. Our focus is on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, decarbonising our financing portfolios and ensuring the responsible use of natural resources. We actively support our clients in their transition towards more sustainable business models, particularly in emissions intensive sectors. At the same time, we continuously reduce our own environmental footprint and further strengthen the consideration of biodiversity aspects in our processes and financing decisions.
Sustainable financing & future fields
Our sustainability-related activities are based on NORD/LB's strategic alignment and the requirements of the regulatory framework. We continuously monitor how market segments, technologies and regulatory requirements are evolving, and examine which areas become relevant to our existing business areas. In this way, we ensure that we can identify changes at an early stage and evaluate them in a structured manner.
CO₂ emissions at NORD/LB – measuring, controlling, reporting
The recording and transparency of CO₂ emissions are a central part of our responsible approach to climate and environmental risks. We make a fundamental distinction between the issues from our own business operations and the financed issues resulting from lending and our financing activities in customer business.
While emissions from our own business operations are mainly generated by energy consumption, mobility and building operations, financed emissions make up the vast majority of our climate-related impact. Their measurement and governance is therefore an essential lever for assessing climate-related risks and supporting the transition to a climate-neutral economy. For the quantification of financed emissions, we are guided by established methods (e.g. PCAF) and use supplementary analyses for portfolio alignment (e.g. sector strategies).
As part of our sustainability reporting, all our emissions are systematically recorded, analysed and disclosed in accordance with the requirements of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the relevant European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). CSRD-compliant reporting creates a uniform, comprehensible and verifiable data basis to transparently present climate-related impacts, risks and management approaches.
Our own emissions
We record the CO₂ emissions from our business operations systematically and annually in accordance with recognised standards (VfU standard, Greenhouse Gas Protocol). Emissions from the energy consumption of the properties we use, from business trips and from our other operational activities, such as IT maintenance along the value chain, are taken into account. The data collection covers around 95% of our employees and enables a reliable analysis and control of emissions. On this basis, we derive targeted measures to reduce emissions, for example through targeted energy purchasing, energy-efficiency measures in buildings, optimised use of space and adapted mobility concepts. Progress is regularly documented internally. In addition, we structure our energy management with ISO 50001 certification, make consumption transparent and continuously improve energy efficiency and CO₂ performance.
Balancing is carried out along the three emission ranges (scopes):
- Scope 1: Direct CO₂ emissions from own emission sources at NORD/LB sites, e.g. through the combustion of fossil fuels (natural gas) and the operation of the vehicle fleet.
- Scope 2: Indirect CO₂ emissions from the generation of purchased energy such as electricity or district heating.
- Scope 3: Other indirect CO₂ emissions along the value chain, e.g. from business travel, paper and water consumption and waste
The systematic recording forms the basis for transparent management and the continuous reduction of emissions in NORD/LB's own operations.
10.805 tCO₂e
Scope-1 & Scope-2
emissions 2025
88,5 %
of the company car fleet will be fully electrified in 2025
Emissions from our financing portfolio
The topic decarbonisation is of high strategic relevance for us. In particular, the reduction of financed emissions is the focus of the sustainable alignment of the business model and the transformation of our clientele.
We respond to these challenges by implementing sector specific decarbonisation strategies, thereby systematically considering climate related risks and transition pathways in selected sectors. In this way, decarbonisation is gradually integrated into business, risk and management processes and actively accompanied.
Management of ESG risks
We analyse how climate and natural risks influence our clients' business models, markets and portfolios, and incorporate these insights into credit decisions, limit structures and our risk strategy. A special focus is on transitory and physical climate risks as well as biodiversity risks.
Our ESG scoring creates transparency at the individual client level, while we assess the long-term impacts of different climate pathways through sector strategies and scenario analysis. The results are incorporated into our credit processes, business planning and risk management, and are regularly monitored via internal sustainability reporting.
