Strategy and Culture
In 2022, Banco de Chile launched its Blue Commitment to Chile, a navigation chart for environmental issues and the fight against climate change. It includes several initiatives and concrete actions to reduce its carbon footprint, advance sustainable finance and contribute to people, the community and the environment. Also during the year, it launched the We are Naturally Blue (Ser Azul está en Nuestra Naturaleza) campaign to raise employee awareness of the bank's commitment to the environment and how they can contribute to this purpose.
Sampling of Blue Commitment to Chile Initiatives:
- We are Naturally Blue: Mass media campaign to express and reaffirm Banco de Chile’s commitment to care for the environment, offering a set of new and updated products and services for individuals and SMEs on diverse platforms. The campaign seeks to promote electromobility, encourage consumption of clean energy, support SMEs, offer products from the bank's travel agency, provide tools through the Banco de Chile SME Program and promote environmentally friendly funds from Banchile Inversiones and BlackRock ESG that invest in capitalization instruments issued by institutions participating in domestic and foreign capital markets.
- Blue Crew: Within the framework of the Blue Commitment to Chile and caring for the environment, Banco de Chile's Blue Crew partnered with the Reforestemos Foundation to plant more than 26 thousand trees of 23 native species such as hazelnut, coihue, peumo, arrayán and canelo, in six regions of the country. The Blue Crew worked for two months to reforest an area equivalent to 40 soccer fields.
- New Sustainable Financing Framework: This framework was developed for issuing bonds; granting environmental, social or sustainability loans; and financing projects that generate positive environmental or social impacts in eight areas: MSMEs and women-owned businesses; financial education; basic infrastructure; social housing; energy efficiency; renewable energy; sustainable buildings and clean transportation.
- Training: In 2022, numerous training courses were held for different areas of the bank, including: (1) E-learning developed with Deloitte for the entire organization to internalize ESG concepts. (2) Certified course on Corporate Eco-Efficiency in Financial Institutions (CEFI) from the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). (3) Certified course on Climate Change and the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) given by UNEP FI. (4) Certified course on Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. (5) Certified course on sustainability and accounting standards SASB and NCG 461 conducted by Deloitte.
Sustainable Finance
Sustainable Finance Banco de Chile is building a sustainability culture by gradually including Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles into its internal policies, mechanisms and processes.
Retail and SME Banking: Banco de Chile's Blue Commitment also translates into sustainable benefits for its customers, including:
- Commercial and consumer loans with preferential rates
- Leases with preferential rates and discounts with suppliers in alliances
- Interest-free installments for credit card purchases
- Discounts on credit or debit card purchases at sustainable retailers
- Insurance
- Investments Awareness webinars for customers:
- During 2022, two webinars were held, the first in conjunction with ProEmpresas from PROPYME. The guest speaker on behalf of the Blue Commitment Program was from Copec's Flux Solar and addressed the topic of renewable energy. The second event was Reactiva Digital organized by PROPYME and Corfo, with the Blue Commitment Program’s special guest, the company DHEMAX (2nd place in the SME category at the 6th National Entrepreneurial Challenge Contest). The main theme was electromobility.
Large Companies Banking:
In 2022 one of the most noteworthy projects was MUS$28 in lease financing granted to the Link Group of Rancagua to service part of the transportation contract for personnel at Codelco Chile’s El Teniente Division. The lease agreement provided financing for 120 electric buses being used mainly within the mining company. The buses are assembled in Chile by a company from the same group, Reborn Electric Motors.
In addition, Banco de Chile funded 50% of a syndicated loan of MUS$250 used by the company Comercial Motores de Los Andes to import 991 electric buses. These buses will be used by concession holders to operate in the Santiago public transportation system, thus promoting electromobility through more modern buses with environmentally sustainable technology. Once these imported electric buses start operating in 2023, the Santiago public transport system’s fleet will represent 26% of the country's total fleet of electric buses.
Banchile AGF
In 2019, Banchile Administradora General de Fondos (AGF) became one of the first Chilean fund managers to adhere to the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), which aim to understand the impact of ESG factors on investments, and to advise signatories to integrate these factors into their investment decisions. This subsidiary is committed to considering ESG criteria for all of its assets under management (AUM) as a way to control risks and identify opportunities, incorporating them systematically in investment analysis and decision making, as well as performing ongoing risk monitoring.
Among the various initiatives carried out in 2022, Banchile AGF participated in different active ownership processes, both individually and collaboratively, and was ranked third place in Chile as a Leading Investor in Responsible Investment by the Sustainable Leaders Agenda, ALAS20.
It also launched a new ESG-themed investment fund, Banchile-BlackRock ESG, which invests mainly in capitalization instruments issued by institutions listed on domestic and foreign capital markets. This fund requires a minimum of 90% of the portfolio to be instruments that BlackRock believes meet certain environmental, social and corporate governance sustainability standards.
Operational Eco-efficiency
Based on its Environmental Sustainability Policy, the bank has defined areas of action to reduce the impact of its operations in terms of energy, water, waste, emissions, waste and paper consumption. The Corporate Affairs and Sustainable Development and Administration departments are in charge of coordinating diagnostic processes, indicators, projects and goals to reduce these impacts.
- 100% of the corporation's electricity is supplied by renewable sources, through power purchase agreements (PPA) and purchases of I-REC certificates, thus reducing the total scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
- Between 2018 and 2022, the bank reduced its paper use by 57%, thus saving 348 tons of paper.
- The paper used by the bank has renewable management certifications (FSC or PEFC).
- Banco de Chile has managed to halve its carbon footprint between 2018 and 2022, including all three categories or scopes that companies must measure. When considering sources under its control (scope 1 and 2), there was a 93% reduction between 2018 and 2022.
- During 2022, the bank's total water consumption reached 224 thousand m³, equivalent to an intensity of 0.77 m³/m², achieving a 14% reduction in water consumption compared to the 2018 intensity figure.
Environmental Culture
The process of renewing ID cards for new and existing Banco de Chile and Banco Edwards employees began in June 2022. These were made from recycled PVC/PET and offer the same durability as traditional materials, making them environmentally friendly.
The bank continued to promote a recycling culture, implementing a recycling network at its facilities throughout Chile in 2022 and training 822 employees and external cleaning personnel on environmental issues in order to ensure proper recycling.
In addition, the organization made progress in promoting cultural change by conducting specific environmental and sustainable finance training for different groups.
In September 2022 it resumed delivery of welcome kits for new employees. These include a backpack made from recycled plastic bottle fabric, a cell phone charger made from wheat fibers, among other items, all in a recyclable box. Each backpack contains the equivalent of 25 PET bottles. During the year, 1,085 backpacks were handed out, equivalent to 27,125 recycled PET bottles.
