We develop sustainable solutions to reduce the environmental impact of our facilities and in-house operations, in addition to helping combat climate change. To achieve this, we foment responsible resource use and a culture of environmental conservation among our employees.
At Santander Mexico, we have an Environmental Management System (EMS) in place at our five corporate offices in Santa Fe and at Patio Santa Fe. The EMS is developed, embedded and maintained based on the international standards outlined in ISO 14001: 2015.
The goal of the Environmental Management System (EMS) is to ensure that water, paper, and energy consumption is used responsibly and efficiently at all our facilities, in addition to have an adequate control for the recycling and final disposal of the waste generated, as well as the emissions emitted into the atmosphere as a result of our daily activities. Through our environmental performance indicators, we can analyze trends and detect possible deviations, in order to control the associated environmental impacts by establishing prevention measures and setting goals.
For these certifications to remain valid, an external follow- up audit by the Spanish Association for Standardization and Certification (AENOR) is carried out every year in order to verify compliance with the ISO 14001:2015 international standard.
In addition, our buildings in Queretaro (CTOS and CTOS II) have the Environmental Quality Certification issued by the Federal Attorney’s Office for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA).
We have reaffirmed our commitment to:
We also have environmental programs and initiatives that encompass measures that promote good environmental management practices. Some of the programs rolled out during 2022 include:
At Santander Mexico, we are committed to reducing our Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions to help combat climate change and ensure that our loan and investment portfolios are aligned with our pledge to reach net zero by 2050 and with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
In 2022, we offset our Scope 1 and Scope 3 emissions through the purchase of 11,600 CERs2 from the Oaxaca IV wind project. To offset Scope 2 emissions, we purchased 100,000 iRECs from the Gulf wind Plant and 34,965 iRECs3 from the North Border Photovoltaic Plant, thus ratifying our commitment to be carbon neutral since 2020.
2. CERs: Certified Emission Reduction Certificates.
3. iRECs: Renewable Energy Certificate.
We have a number of tools to measure our energy consumption. This has enabled us to identify those areas in which we use the most energy in order to take action and reduce these impacts.
We have implemented an index that is based on the parametrization and regionalization of electricity consumption, measuring annual energy consumption per unit of usable area (kWh per year / useable m2) of each branch, in order to improve the amount of electricity used by our branch network and identify those that are consuming the most electricity in order to apply specific corrective measures. This index allows us to identify deviations and create energy performance curves and consumption trends.
As part of our Responsible Banking goals, we continue analyzing the procurement of alternative electricity from renewable sources, in addition to purchasing International Renewable Energy Certificates (IRECs1) to offset our energy consumption.
Santander Mexico has a policy that governs the control and monitoring of electricity use in the production, administrative and service processes at our corporate offices in Santa Fe and at Patio Santa Fe.
The control and monitoring procedure for electricity use stipulates the time at which the lights at offices are switched on, the light intensity and the amount of time they are left on. It also controls the on and off times for air-conditioning systems.
We promote on-going in-house communication campaigns aimed at our employees and visitors to our facilities to raise awareness about safeguarding this valuable resource.
Given the sector in which we operate and the characteristics of our products and services, our operations do not have a significant environmental impact. This is the same for our customers and suppliers.
Some of the measures that we have implemented to better manage the water used in our operations include:
Through internal campaigns, we promote the rational use of paper and raise awareness among our employees of the importance of this resource. We recommend that they only print what is really necessary and do so by reusing paper and printing double-sided.
We focus on properly separating the waste we produce at our offices through internal campaigns aimed at our employees. During 2022, we implemented the following activities to help consolidate this good practice:
