Climate Protection at Deutsche Bank

Companies need to act sustainably to maintain the trust of the societies in which they operate. Climate protection has an important role to play here. Deutsche Bank is active in the following areas: financial intermediary, environmental efficiency manager and climate ambassador.

As a financial intermediary Deutsche Bank contributes to climate protection by providing special services and products and facilitating sustainability-oriented business opportunities. In this area, the Bank is focusing on promoting renewable energies, investing in the energy efficiency of buildings, and intensifying emissions trading. As an environmental efficiency manager Deutsche Bank is making great efforts to build an eco-efficient infrastructure, to use renewable energies, and to neutralize unavoidable emissions with the help of certificates. It plans to be completely carbon-neutral in its business activities by the end of 2012. As a climate ambassador Deutsche Bank is using its know-how in the area of sustainability to inform all stakeholder groups about the challenges of climate change and to offer practical solutions.

In addition to forming an essential part of our CSR activities, climate protection solutions have significant business potential. Aggregate investment in the energy sector alone is expected to add up to roughly $28 trillion by 2050. Deutsche Bank is one of the leading banks in renewable energies investment. It supports companies that invest in these energies and is financing individual wind and solar power projects (such as the DII GmbH Desertec Industrial Initiative and the largest photovoltaic park in Spain).

Deutsche Bank Global Markets provides strategic advice on financing, risk management, and investment to environmental technology and renewable energy companies and designs bespoke solutions to meet individual needs. Investment products include environmentally-oriented exchange traded funds, certificates, warrants, and notes. Products include: DB Platinum S&P US Carbon Efficient Index Exchange Traded Fund, which tracks the performance of S&P 500 excluding stocks with the largest carbon footprints; the Öko-Dax Certificate, which tracks the performance of the 10 biggest German renewable energy companies; and S-Box GlobalSolar Certificate, which tracks the performance of the world’s 20 biggest solar energy and silicium companies.

DB Advisors, the institutional investment management business of Deutsche Bank’s Asset Management division, offers a full range of strategies in both traditional and alternative asset classes. DB Advisors works on the premise that adapting to and mitigating the effects of climate change will require massive capital investment over decades, thereby producing numerous investment opportunities. Through DB Advisors, institutional investors can access these opportunities, as well as a wide range of strategies that meet their criteria for responsible investments. DB Advisors’ climate change-related and other responsible investment solutions combine environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations with investors’ financial objectives.

DWS Investments – the retail fund business of Deutsche Asset Management and one of the world’s largest mutual fund companies with €136 billion in assets under management in Germany and €256 billion worldwide – has numerous sustainable funds in its portfolio. Among the most prominent are DWS Climate Change, a fund that focuses on all aspects of climate change, and DWS Zukunftsressourcen, a fund that focuses on water, renewable energies, and agriculture.

Deutsche Bank makes markets in bonds and shares of nearly all major companies in the sectors of power generation, renewable energy, emission-related and environmental technology. It is the leading market maker in shares of renewable energy companies.

Deutsche Bank has been a leading participant in the international carbon credit market since its inception. The Bank invested in the Prototype Carbon Fund set up by the World Bank in 2000 to kick-start Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI) projects and was the first bank to execute an emissions trade under the Umbrella Carbon Facility set up to facilitate Certified Emission Reduction (CER) and Emission Reduction Unit (ERU) trading. Deutsche Bank makes markets in a wide range of carbon credits including European Union Allowances, ERUs, and CERs, and has been involved in over 50 CDM projects, including wind power, energy efficiency, landfill gas to electricity and cement waste heat-recovery projects. Deutsche Bank was voted the No. 1 CER trader in Energy Risk’s most recent poll of industry professionals.

In the context of Deutsche Bank’s climate strategy and sustainable banking approach, risk management plays an essential role. In 2008 the Bank revised its global lending policy, placing even greater emphasis on sustainability. For example, Deutsche Bank does not provide financing for products such as CFC, asbestos, or certain weapons and pays special attention to all transactions regarding rainforests, woods/forests in general, dams, and mining/natural resource production.

Large cities account for about 75 percent of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, with almost 40 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions being caused by buildings. Making buildings more energy efficient can therefore make a considerable contribution to climate protection.

Deutsche Bank is one of the key partners of the Clinton Climate Initiative, which focuses on a green refurbishment of private and public buildings in 15 of the world’s largest cities. The most prominent Bank with its numerous buildings is acting accordingly in its own facility management. The best example for this is the refurbishment of the Bank’s headquarters. Once completed, the Twin Towers in downtown Frankfurt will be among the most eco-friendly skyscrapers worldwide, reducing CO2 emissions – and energy expenses – by about 90 percent. Deutsche Bank aims to obtain two certifications for its headquarters: a certification from the German Sustainable Building Council (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen) and a Platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certificate by the US Green Building Council. Deutsche Bank has also put up a list with sustainability requirements for all buildings it is buying or renting.

As many studies have shown, procurement is significantly influencing the overall environmental impact of a company. Ecological criteria play an increasing role in the procurement of goods and services. By including minimum standards in its product specifications and defining the requirements to be met by suppliers, the Bank both demands and supports its business partners’ commitments to sustainability.

In 2008 Deutsche Bank set up a special unit for global energy procurement, extended the use of sustainability criteria – particularly for global tenders – and further enhanced its Global Sourcing Policy. Currently, the Bank is working on further improving the entire procurement portfolio and auditing of CO2 emissions in the supply chain with a focus on energy and paper supply contracts.

All this, plus activities such as awareness campaigns for the Bank’s employees, offers ample proof of Deutsche Bank’s comprehensive commitment to climate protection, consistent with the Principles 7 to 9 of the UN Global Compact. As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility and in its own best interest, Deutsche Bank is committed to help prevent significant deterioration of the global climate.