INTEGRATED COMPANY REPORT 2014 - GIZ. Solutions that work.

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Environmental management | Inside the company, as in our
projects, we accept environmental responsibility and strive
to protect the environment, make efficient use of resources
and encourage staff and partners to participate in our envi-
ronmental management activities. This is laid out in GIZ’s
environmental mission statement. GIZ is also involved in
numerous environmental initiatives, including Biodiversity
in Good Company, B.A.U.M. e.V. and the Umweltforum Rhein-
Main e.V.
An overarching environmental programme lays out
specific targets and measures for our environmental man-
agement. For instance GIZ wants to become completely
‘climate neutral’ at all German locations. Our activities aim
firstly to reduce emissions, secondly to replace fossil fuels
with renewable energy and thirdly to offset unavoidable
emissions. Since 2014, all GIZ offices in Germany have
bought in only green power. One hundred per cent of carbon
dioxide emissions produced by our German offices have
been offset by the purchase of climate certificates to the
highest international standards.
Another good example is our waste management
concept for disposing of old computers, monitors and other
IT appliances. Rather than throwing them away, GIZ has
since 2013 worked with the non-profit business AfB social
& green IT. AfB picks up damaged or second-hand hard-
ware, which it then repairs and sells
on. About half of AfB’s workforce
of 180 are people with disabili-
ties, who thus have a regular
job. By cooperating with AfB
and restoring older equipment
to working order, GIZ is help-
ing reduce emissions and
energy consumption.
GIZ also produces annual envi-
ronmental audits at practically all German
locations. These are incorporated in our sustainability
reporting. They indicate trends in resource consumption and
environmental impacts, and identify any corrective mea-
sures needed. At 90 or so locations in partner countries, GIZ
is also increasingly using the Corporate Sustainability
Handprint to record environmental data and other sustain-
ability factors, and is working to steadily improve perfor-
mance in these fields. Standards established in Germany
are applied worldwide as far as possible. Here GIZ relies on
voluntary commitments. The Mexico office for instance initi-
ated a scheme to ensure the proper handling of electrical
and hazardous waste, and identified suitable recycling com-
panies to this end. As in Germany, unusable batteries, elec-
trical appliances and ink cartridges are disposed of safely
and recycled wherever possible.
To further enhance the transparency and clarity of our
environmental management practices, we have had our Bonn
and Eschborn offices, as well as the GIZ’s Berlin Representa-
tion, audited in line with the European Union’s exacting Eco-
Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) since 2013. Under
the scheme, GIZ undertakes to systematically reduce nega-
tive environmental impacts, especially in the fields of
energy and materials efficiency, water, waste and emissions.
EMAS ensures compliance with all environmental regula-
tions and guarantees staff participation as well as the pro-
vision of information to the general public. Environmental
teams at our individual locations draw up local environmen-
tal programmes with targets, measures and deadlines for
implementation. EMAS not only audits environmental perfor-
mance, however. Internal and external audits also look at
such factors as safety at work. The 2014 audit, like its
predecessor, gave rise to no complaints. Indeed positive
mention was made of the fact that environmental manage-
ment is genuinely part of GIZ life, and that the new GIZ
buildings in Bonn and Eschborn were planned to comply
with the extensive requirements of the German Sustainable
Building Council (DGNB).//
// Germany and worldwide
Taking responsibility for achieving
ecological balance
GIZ environmental management: // AfB social & green IT:
Sustainability reporting: // Corporate Sustainability Handprint:
Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS): // German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB):
100%
of carbon dioxide
emissions at our
German offices
are offset.
GIZ Integrated Company Report 2014 14 15 Protecting the environment and natural resources