Starting from last year's Environment Report, the boundaries for calculating the Bank's carbon footprint have been significantly extended, mostly to take account of indirect emissions along the entire value chain.
In 2022, total GHG emissions were down by 2 per cent on the previous year, still around 22 per cent lower than in 2019, the last pre-pandemic year. Compared with 2021, there was a decline in heating fuel consumption and in the corresponding emissions. Emissions from purchased products, goods and services rose slightly. Emissions from business travel doubled compared with the previous year, albeit remaining at much lower levels than in the pre-pandemic period (-63 per cent on 2019). There was a 10 per cent increase in the emissions associated with commuting, as staff gradually returned to on-site working after the pandemic. Likewise, emissions from the life cycle of banknotes rose, as more raw materials were required to produce a larger number of banknotes. Since 2023, all waste consisting of shredded worn banknotes has been sent to waste-to-energy plants, in line with the decisions taken by the Eurosystem.
Over the past year, the Bank has made further progress in the area of sustainable investment - especially in terms of its portfolios' carbon intensity - and stepped up its participation in sustainable finance and environmental sustainability working groups.
An independent international study ranked the Bank of Italy as the second greenest central bank in the G20 countries.
