Tomorrow, Saturday 25 March at 20.30 local time, UniCredit will turn off the lights in 35 of its buildings across twelve of the Group's countries for sixty minutes - marking the bank's sixteenth consecutive year of participation in Earth Hour
Since its beginnings in 2007, the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) Earth Hour has been known for the "lights off" moment, with individuals from around the globe switching off their lights to show symbolic support for the planet and to raise awareness of the environmental issues affecting it.
This year, however, Earth Hour is expanding its focus beyond switching off the lights.
With the call "Switch off. Give an hour for Earth", the WWF will use Earth Hour to highlight the importance of European nature and shine a spotlight on its restoration.
Fiona Melrose, Head of Group Strategy and ESG at UniCredit, said: "We take part in Earth Hour each year as a clear demonstration of our strong efforts to support sustainability and take concerted action against climate change. ESG topics remain embedded in everything we do. In fact, we recently published our Net Zero targets on the first carbon intensive sectors for 2030: Oil & Gas, Power Generation and Automotive. We are also defining a Group roadmap to achieve Net Zero on our own emissions by 2030, leveraging on space optimization, energy efficiency, electricity from renewable sources and heating systems transformation."
At UniCredit, we are focused on delivering a positive and sustainable transition to green energy which does as little harm to the planet and its people as possible.
We are working to contain our environmental footprint by procuring our electricity from renewable sources, improving the energy efficiency of our premises and data centres, supporting our people with more sustainable mobility solutions and sourcing from environmentally friendly suppliers. This approach is also supported by the implementation of Environmental Management Systems across the Group.
To concretely showcase how ESG values are embedded in our business and culture, we are also part of the Principles for Responsible Banking (including the PRB's commitment on Financial Health and Inclusion), the Ellen MacArthur Foundation network committed to Circular Economy, and have signed up to the Sustainable STEEL Principles and Finance for Biodiversity Pledge as the first bank from Italy at COP15.
Our 2022 Integrated Report describes in detail how we intend to create sustainable value over time under a common Purpose of Empowering Communities to Progress
Milan, 24 March 2023
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