Commitment to the environment and climate change

Our climate change responsibility extends to our business activities where we play a critical role in funding a sustainable economy that is cognisant of the world's limited natural resources.

We recognise the risk of climate change and are committeed to supporting the transition to a clean and energy-efficient global economy. We believe the greatest impact of SDG 13 (climate action) and SDG 15 (life on land) will be made by prioritising SDG 6, SDG 7 and SDG 11.

Indirect impact through our business activities

Investec's environmental policy and climate change statement takes into account the challenges that climate change presents to the global economy. We believe that as a niched specialised financial services organisation, and given our positioning in the developed and emerging worlds, we can make a meaningful impact in addressing climate change. We recognise the complexity and urgency of climate change and welcome the voice of all stakeholders as we make this transition together to a cleaner low-carbon world in a way that is most responsible for all participants.

Highlights

Reviewed and strengthened our climate change statement and policy on coal projects

Our Power and Infrastructure Finance team launched a new renewable energy investment vehicle, Revego Africa Energy

Signed up to the United for Wildlife Financial Taskforce

Climate change disclosures

Stakeholders are increasingly expecting greater non-financial disclosures. This includes disclosures on environmental and social impacts as well as benchmarking against our peers. The Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) has gained more traction as the Prudential Regulation Authority has issued an updated supervisory statement clarifying expectations around climate-related disclosure requirements. We recognise and support the recommendations of the TCFD to report clear and consistent information and have expanded on our previous disclosure. This is the start of a long-term process to build a better understanding of environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting and climate-related risks and opportunities and we will enhance our disclosure overtime in line with industry guidelines and best practice.

Learn more about our TCFD response

Direct operational impact

We recognise that we have a responsibility to understand and manage our wider carbon footprint. As a result our approach is focused on limiting our direct operational impact and creating awareness to encourage positive sustainable behaviour.

Breakdown of group emissions

2.8%

decrease in carbon emissions for the group

down to 5.74

tonnes of CO2e in emissions per average headcount

down to 0.35

tonnes of CO2e in emissions per m2 office space

Group carbon footprint

Click below to view our respective carbon footprints as calculated according to the international Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol's Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (revised edition).

Group carbon footprint

		31-Mar-19		31-Mar-18
		31-Mar-19		31-Mar-18
		Units	Tonnes of CO₂equivalent	Consumption in unit of measure	Tonnes of CO₂equivalent	Consumption in unit measure	Variance in tonnes of CO₂equivalent	Notes
Scope 1			1 901		2 168		-12.30%
Energy	Natural gas	kWh	296	1 609 702	462	2 508 683	-35.90%	1
	LPG stationary	L	26	16 984	24	16 055	8.30%
	CO₂purchased	kg	-	306	-	171	-	2
	Diesel	L	6	2 341	44	17 113	-86.40%	3
Refrigerant	Refrigerant	kg	1 361	843	1 433	884	-5%
Employee travel	Vehicle fleet	km	211	1 153 659	204	1 100 363	3.40%
Scope 2			29 598	39 048 367	32 394	42 096 188	-8.60%
Energy	Electrical energy consumption	kWh	29 598	39 048 367	32 394	42 096 188	-8.60%
Scope 3			27 361		26 018		5.20%
Paper	Paper consumption	t	380	388	404	411	-5.90%
Waste	General waste	t	19	47	18	53	5.60%	5
Employee travel	Rail travel	km	79	1 865 186	71	1 624 080	11.30%
	Road business travel	km	227	1 254 882	216	1 184 132	5.10%
	Taxi	km	35	215 981	36	217 033	-2.80%
	Commercial airlines	km	26 622	86 559 177	25 273	83 324 230	5.30%
Total Emissions			58 860		60 580		-2.80%
No scope
Water	Water consumption	kl	103 450			108 108
Recycled waste	Recycled waste	t	960			869
Intensity
Emissions per average headcount			5.74*		6.23*
Emissions per m2 office space			0.35		0.36
Water consumption per average headcount		kl		10.09*		11.11*

1. Consumption decreased as our UK head office relocated to more resource efficient premises during the year.

2. 2018 data restated due to overstatement during capturing.

3. Decrease in diesel consumption due to fewer power outages experienced in South Africa in the current financial year. Significant increase expected in 2020 as reserves were replenished in April 2019. Diesel consumption also down in the UK as the head office moved to more resource efficient premises during the year.

4. Energy consumption declined as a result of electricity and gas reduction initiatives across all our offices, despite a headcount increase.

5. The reported general waste figure is expected to increase significantly in 2020, as our data collection efforts increase.

* Includes permanent and temporary employees.

Assessment parameters

Consolidation approach: Operational control

Emission factor data source: DEFRA (2018), IEA, eGRID (for New York electricity) and Eskom (for South Africa electricity)

Intensity ratio: Emissions per average headcount, emissions per office space m²

Independent assurance: Limited assurance provided by KPMG for the years ended: 31 March 2018 and 31 March 2019

Coverage: Coverage of environmental information covers > 95% of our business operations. Materiality set at 5%