BBVA will switch off its buildings for Earth Hour
BBVA will again be switching off the lights in many of its buildings for the Earth Hour organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
From 20:30 to 21:30 on March 19, BBVA will switch off the lights in many of its buildings and offices during the Earth Hour, to demonstrate its commitment to the fight against climate change, the most serious environmental threat hanging over us. In total, it will switch off the lights in 123 buildings and 342 branches in 154 cities in Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Turkey and the USA.
The WWF launched the Earth Hour campaign in 2007 in Sydney, Australia. It is a symbolic gesture in the fight against climate change, which, according to the WWF website, has developed into the largest environmental mobilization campaign in history. The secret of its popularity is that it is open to everybody, from individuals to public agencies and companies. More than 200 towns and cities around Spain are taking part this year.
An ongoing commitment
2015 saw the completion of the Group’s second Global Eco-efficiency Plan, far exceeding the objectives set. We have reduced our electricity consumption by 14%, water consumption by 23%, paper consumption by 43% and CO2 emissions by 16%, compared to 2012. We have also achieved our objective of 33% of employees working in our buildings having environmental certification.
In this latter regard, BBVA is contributing to environmental sustainability by fostering excellence in its building management. Sixteen of the Group’s buildings in Spain, the USA and Latin America have been built to the United State ‘s Green Building Council’s LEED certification standards. These include our new BBVA City HQ in Madrid, where renewable energy is making a major contribution to our energy needs.
BBVA’s commitment to the environment doesn’t end here. In 2015, we continued supporting leading international sustainability initiatives, such as the United Nations Environmental Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), the Equator Principles, the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), the United Nations Global Compact, the Green Bond Principles and the Carbon Disclosure Project. In 2015, BBVA also joined the Spanish Group for Green Growth and signed up to a number of sector initiatives that reiterate its commitment to financing projects that help offset global warming, in the context of the COP21 climate summit held in Paris.