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Ecological footprint
Mobility
The number of employees that travel to work
by tram, train, bus or underground is much
higher in the financial sector than in the rest
of the services sector. The train is especially
frequently used. A strong contributing factor
in this regard is probably that each employee
is 100% reimbursed for his/her public trans-
port pass(es).. In addition, the headquarters
of the largest financial institutions are in the
large cities, mainly in Brussels, which are
more easily accessible by public transport.
This is a development that has become clear
especially in the last decade. Before that, a
larger proportion of staff was deployed in the
regional branches of the financial institutions.
Besides a bicycle bonus for those who come to
work by bicycle, various financial institutions
also provide (covered) bike parking, repair
kits and showers.
Despite these endeavours to encourage em-
ployees to leave the car at home as much as
possible, the car nevertheless remains the
most popular mode of transport. Neverthe-
less, the percentage of car users is still much
lower in the financial sector than outside of it.
The sector is also trying to limit its ecological
footprint by promoting “flexible workplaces”.
In this system, there are for example 8 work-
places available for 10 employees, or employ-
ees can work from home, etc.
Paper and energy
The ecological footprint of the financial sector
consists to a great extent of paper and energy
consumption. By various measures, the indi-
vidual institutions are trying to reduce this
consumption:
> setting the heating at a lower temperature
during the winter and reducing the air con-
ditioning during the summer
> replacement of old, energy-guzzling electric
equipment
“
Implementing energy-neutral bank
buildings and environmentally-
friendly commuting is a priority for
the financial sector.
But also via its services, the
sector has important leverage to
stimulate green investments.”
Danny Jacobs, Federation for a Better Environment, August 2012