Being good caretakers of both the environment and our planet goes hand-in-hand with serving as stewards of our clients’ assets for the long-term.
Strategy for Addressing Climate-Change Risks
Not only do we develop sustainable investment strategies and innovative products for our clients that reflect and advance their environmental priorities, manage climate-related risks and realize investment opportunities in the transition to a greener world—we also embed sustainability principles and continually improve our practices across products, services and processes.
The fundamental principle of sustainability is to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the abilities of future generations to meet their own needs. We align our business to this concept by integrating environmental considerations into company-wide processes, continually improving our business practices and delivering tangible, positive results related to the environment.
In addition to our desire to preserve the environment for future generations, we know the long-term viability of our business and the success of our clients are tied to the health and well-being of our planet. That’s why we commit to protecting the environment and mitigating negative environmental impacts from our operations.
We have reduced our carbon emissions per partner by more than 69 percent since our 2015 baseline, and reduced our energy consumption by more than 46 percent.
We have therefore taken a closer account of the impact climate change has, or may have, on operations, credit conditions and regulatory compliance across the globe, and established a cross-disciplinary group, known as the Risk Climate Caucus, to monitor and react to developments related to climate risk to our organization, ensuring it is appropriately considered.
Northern Trust's Workplace Services function manages our real estate portfolio, procurement and facilities services with the goal of reducing the negative environmental impacts of our supply chain. We use energy to power our data centers and facilities, the majority of which are in North America. As a result, the bulk of our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions come from our North American operations. Since we began tracking our carbon footprint (comprised of the carbon dioxide equivalent of all GHGs produced from our operations), we have improved our data collection processes and calculation methodologies to align with the GHG Protocol.
Working closely with our building managers, Northern Trust follows the environmentally friendly building strategies and practices outlined by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. More than 12 percent of our buildings are either LEED- or Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREAM)-certified.
In 2020, LEED awarded our North American and Asia Pacific (APAC) offices one platinum, six gold and two silver certifications, while in 2021 we added another silver certification to our roster. In addition, we use reliable and sophisticated tracking programs to monitor and manage our environmental performance and calculate our annual carbon footprint.
In India, all sites have moved to common centralized dustbins and have reduced approximately 80% of plastic garbage liners.
As of Dec. 31, 2021, we have reduced our emissions by more than 69 percent since our 2015 baseline, and reduced our energy consumption by more than 46 percent. In 2021, most of our staff continued to work from home, and business travel remained significantly reduced from prior years. In addition, we continued to supply more than 12 percent of our portfolio with a renewable energy electricity supply. We estimate that the impact of COVID-19 on our global emissions equates to an approximately 25 percent reduction.
Realizing that climate impacts threaten more than supply chains and physical infrastructure, we made the commitment to be net-zero carbon by 2050, using our 2019 baseline. In the coming months we will provide additional details on our strategy, including plans to have 100 percent use of renewable energy (or equivalent) in all locations, de-gas our real estate portfolio, install renewable energy technologies including photovoltaic (PV) and wind turbines, upgrade to electronically commutated (EC) fans in data centers, electrify our company-owned shuttle fleet and eliminate single-use plastics from our premises.
We are also continuing to reduce our carbon emissions, as well as expanding the types of emissions on which we report, such as the recent additions of water and waste emissions data.
We began gathering data on water consumption and waste in our buildings in 2020. In 2021, 26 percent of our portfolio buildings were able to provide water-use data, representing 23 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtonCO2e)/year.
More than 22 percent of our portfolio buildings provided waste data in 2021, representing 4,881 MtonCO2e/year. This was an increase of 1,069 percent compared to 2020, largely reflecting employees beginning to return to the office during 2021 after working remotely during much of the COVID-19 pandemic, and increased efforts to collect more waste data. Since we only began collecting this data in 2020, when the vast majority of our employees were working remotely, it is expected that the latter part of 2022 will provide us with a more accurate representation of what our typical water and waste consumption looks like. To reduce our water and waste footprint, we will continue to work with facilities teams across our portfolio to expand the number of locations supplying this data for our carbon emissions report.
WATER In our Limerick office, timers have been put in place to minimize the volume of water used in bathrooms, and taps/faucets are also spring-loaded to enable automatic shut-off after use. Rainwater is also being collected and used for maintenance of the grounds.
Similarly, in Luxembourg, rainwater collectors are being used to reduce water consumption and costs.
WASTE In India, all sites have moved to common centralized dustbins to dispose of waste in the office and have reduced approximately 80 percent of plastic garbage liners. Arecanut plates and cups are used in place of Styrofoam items, and wooden, single-use cutlery is used as an alternative to plastic.
In Limerick and London, paper cups have been removed and replaced with travel mugs for partners. Likewise, in Dublin, paper cups have been replaced with porcelain mugs.
Collaboration with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and advocacy groups allows us to maintain transparency and hold ourselves accountable to our environmental sustainability practices. Northern Trust and our surrounding communities benefit when we publicly report our environmental footprint, such as our GHG emissions, energy use and the risks and opportunities associated with climate change, under the supervision and guidelines of reputable third-party organizations. By joining communities of investors who hold the health of our planet in high regard, we strive to effect positive change for our environment. The NGOs with which we collaborate include the U.S. Green Building Council, CDP and the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change.
The Sustainability Network The Sustainability Network, Northern Trust’s global employee environmental engagement program, aims to increase awareness of sustainability issues, promoting best practices and unifying environmentally focused business operations. This program conducts celebrations around Earth Hour and Earth Day, and facilitates volunteering in local communities. In 2021, the Sustainability Network focused on topics such as local biodiversity, elimination of single-use plastics and energy efficiency. Local Communities Northern Trust functions as a global citizen whose commitment to building a healthy, sustainable environment involves deep regard for our surrounding communities. We understand our footprint affects the larger ecological system and the lives of community members, and we believe in the power of community-based actions to effect positive change for the good of our planet.
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