Environmental and social policy

In the course of its history the Bank of Italy has increasingly sought to combine the performance of its institutional tasks with a focus on environmental and social issues. In its 2011-2013 Strategic Plan it made clear its desire to redouble its efforts on these fronts: this section gives a brief outline of the Bank's environmental and social initiatives.    

In particular, the social responsibility section contains information on the Bank's environmental policy and the Environment Reports published since 2010; another section describes the contributions made by the Bank to charity and public interest initiatives.

Environmental initiatives

In a context of mounting national and international concern for environmental problems, Italy's institutions are called upon to make their own contribution to sustainable development so as not to compromise the capacity of future generations to meet their needs.

In line with the best practices adopted within the ESCB, the Bank of Italy has been working systematically for some years now to reduce its ecological footprint, above all in sectors with a potentially significant environmental impact. In 2004 the Bank was awarded the ISO 14001 environmental certification for its banknote design and printing processes.

In 2008 the Governor approved the Environmental Policy document illustrating the Bank's objectives in this area. In keeping with this policy document, a series of initiatives have been implemented since then. Reducing the environmental impact of its activities was also included among the objectives of the Bank of Italy's 2011-2013 Strategic Plan.

In 2015 the Environmental Policy was updated in light of developments in the external environment and the results obtained. The Bank's main environmental objectives are: the sustainable use of energy and natural resources, optimal waste management, sustainable mobility, and eco-friendly 'green' procurement, and promoting environmental awareness.

To achieve these objectives a concrete programme of activities has been drawn up to steadily improve the Bank's environmental performance.

The Bank's Environment Report, published for the first time in 2010 and updated annually, illustrates the main initiatives carried out and gives an account of the Bank's environmental impact by means of series of quantitative indicators. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the improvements made to date and the areas that need greater attention going forward.

Contributions

In accordance with the statutory rules and the resolutions passed by the competent decision-making bodies, the Bank of Italy contributes to public interest initiatives and makes donations to charity.

This section contains the criteria and procedures governing the granting of contributions to public and private entities as well as a list of beneficiaries of amounts exceeding €1000, which is updated annually. The criteria establish the areas eligible for contributions, specify the principles to be observed during the examination of funding requests, define the tasks and powers of the Bank's structures and bodies, and set the timeframes for the receipt and processing of applications.

Only requests for funding made via an application are eligible for consideration. These must contain specific information (the amount requested, a description of the project to be undertaken, cost estimates, and documents certifying any other sources of funding), and must be submitted in specific periods of the year.

In particular:

• applications received between 1 January and 28 February are processed by end June
• applications received between 1 July and 31 August are processed by end December.

The preliminary inquiry is conducted by an internal committee in the Bank, which reports to the Institutional Relations Division of the Secretariat to the Governing Board and Communications Directorate.

The results of the inquiry are submitted to the competent decision-making body, which is the Governing Board for amounts of up to €25,000 and the Board of Directors otherwise.

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