Environment
Investments – net zero by 2050
Helvetia has set a target for net-zero Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in its investment portfolio by 2050. With this target the company utilizes its investments to promote a sustainable and in particular low-carbon economy.
Our interim targets and measures focus on the counterparties with the highest contributions to our financed emissions. We aim to ensure that these top contributors have a net-zero pathway in place which is in line with the Paris Agreement and verified by the Science-based Target Initiative (SBTi). Helvetia aims to increase the proportion of these counterparties with accredited net-zero targets in a linear fashion to 100% by 2040 by implementing an active ownership strategy from 2025 onwards. The targets and measures are also supplemented by applying our fossil fuel policy, which determines how we deal with fossil fuel-related investments and also provides for the phasing-out of coal-related transactions and particularly harmful extraction methods in the oil and gas sector by 2040. We constantly measure our progress in the GHG reporting on our portfolio emissions in all major asset classes and we will continue to develop our investment processes to better account for greenhouse gas emissions.
Business operations – reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
Helvetia is committed to achieving net-zero emissions from its own business operations by 2040 and has set specific interim targets and measures to achieve this. The interim targets include a reduction in directly-caused GHG emissions by 30% by 2030, by 55% by 2035 and by a total of 80% by 2040 compared to 2023. Remaining emissions will be completely removed from the Earth's atmosphere by purchasing CO2 removal certificates. Our emission reduction measures focus on the areas of mobility, buildings and electricity consumption. To this end, company vehicles will be fully electrified, the use of fossil fuels in buildings will be reduced, and renewable energies will be used to heat and cool buildings.
