Deutsche bank has long been viewed as a corporate leader on green issues-so much so that in 2010, a vice chairman of the bank was invited to join heads of state, finance ministers and other diplomacy types comprising a U.N. advisory panel to help find funding sources for projects related to climate change.
Nowadays, of course, it's difficult to imagine Deutsche Bank's executives speaking with government leaders about much else besides the economic crisis in Europe. But the German banking giant, though under the gun to raise capital and slash costs in the wake of the euro zone's financial woes, is staying the course it began in 2007 to become a carbon-neutral company and a thought leader on the impact of climate change.
Sabine Miltner, group sustainability officer for the $2.7 trillion-asset Deutsche Bank, says that among senior managers at the bank, there's an understanding that "sustainability is an important component of what we do and not something that shifts with the wind."
Even in the current business environment, she says, "we don't see sustainability as any less important."
And so the Frankfurt-based company soldiers on in its commitment to develop more sustainable operations and facilities, and to research and invest in renewable energy. The environmental steering committee it formed five years ago continues to be co-chaired by Deutsche Bank Vice Chairman Caio Koch-Weser, who has been involved with the committee since the beginning. The other current co-chair is Miltner. She also manages the committee, which draws its membership from across Deutsche Bank's business divisions and support functions.
According to Miltner, the goal from early on was to exchange perspectives on how to inject sustainable practices into the bank itself through its own operations and practices, how to help finance emerging ideas in alternative energy, and how to pave the way in terms of sustainability-focused investment research.
In the United States, for example, the company's DB Climate Change Advisors has published research on subjects including the development of wind and solar power in China, the global water market, the potential for retrofitting U.S. buildings for greater efficiency, and other implications and investment opportunities stemming from climate change.
Over time, says Miltner, such efforts have "helped us create a platform to speak on policy." Case in point: the appointment of Koch-Weser to the U.N.'s high-level international advisory group.
"Thought leadership is a very important component for us," Miltner says. "We want to be seen as credible [and be a part] of international discussions. It helps us on the business side."
The bank has been putting its money where its mouth is, making its operations and facilities as environmentally friendly and as sustainably managed as possible.
"We cannot just talk," says Miltner. "We are really serious about this."
Indeed, Deutsche Bank is on track to be carbon-neutral in its own operations by the end of this year, a goal reached through a combination of energy-saving practices and what Miltner describes as "an aggressive shift from dirty to clean energy."
As a company that employs 100,000 people and owns more than 3,000 buildings in 74 countries, the impact of these efforts is not incidental.
Much of the change has come from retrofitting older Deutsche Bank buildings, as well as embracing green practices for newer ones, often gaining Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for them.
Last year, the Deutsche Bank Towers, the bank's headquarters in Frankfurt, was able to decrease its heating and cooling energy usage by 67 percent and reduce its water consumption by 74 percent through refurbishment. (The headquarters building was given a Best Green Intelligent Buildings Award in 2011 by the International Green Awards.)
Meanwhile, green-minded refurbishments at the branch level, where reductions in water and energy usage also are underway, are estimated to cut operations cost in this channel by as much as 30 percent.
Deutsche Bank has carried its sustainability focus over stateside as well. The bank's U.S. headquarters at 60 Wall Street in New York won its own award-an EBie, for existing buildings that curb their energy and water use-in late June from the Urban Green Council. Glen Neville, the bank's facilities officer in New York, says that the American operations team has been doing its part through an onsite renewable energy program, efficiency replacements to the HVAC systems and lighting, and an aggressive recycling program that even encourages employees to bring in their own personal electronics to be properly recycled.
The energy efficiency and environmental changes at 60 Wall Street have saved the bank roughly $7 million over the past three years.
"The great thing is these measures all have a strong fiscal case, too," Neville says.
