For the environment
It’s important to Coop Pank that our everyday activities have a clear positive impact on the environment.
We’ve decided not to finance projects that are harmful to people or the environment, instead offering more and more products that promote the wider spread of environmentally friendly technologies and that help to reduce our carbon footprint. We follow the same criteria when outsourcing the services we need for our operations.
RBF membership
In order to contribute to the development of sustainability, we joined the Responsible Business Forum in 2021 and were awarded a Silver Label in 2023. Via the forum we’re contributing to the development of a framework for responsible business practices and to the achievement of both the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the objectives of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
CDP environmental reporting
In 2022 Coop Pank became the first Estonian bank to get involved in one of the world’s leading environmental reporting initiatives, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). We were given a rating of B, which is to say that of an environmental leader, which is awarded for good management in the field of environmental impact. In 2023 our rating was C, indicating awareness.
UNEP FI membership
In 2022 we also became a member of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and approved the Responsible Banking Principles, bringing the bank’s business strategy into alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement so as to increase our positive impact on society. Read the overview of what steps we have taken.
Measuring our footprint and climate impact
It’s important to us at Coop Pank that we measure the impact our operations have on the environment.
In 2021 we became the first Estonian bank to assess the carbon footprint of our offices and loan portfolio in accordance with the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, and we’ve done the same every year since.
Coop Pank’s carbon footprint for 2023 was measured as being 214,023 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, 99.7% of which stems from our portfolio and leasing activities and 0.3% from our office-based activities. The calculations revealed that the biggest impact we have as a bank arises from our lending activities, and that the financing of environmentally friendly projects significantly helps to mitigate this negative impact.
COOP Pank’s climate impact
As of 31 December 2023
| Related effects | Percentage |
| Office activities | 0,3% |
| Leases | 14% |
| Business loans | 46% |
| Housing loans | 21% |
| Commercial real estate | 19% |
The climate impact of the Coop Pank group’s loan portfolio was calculated in accordance with the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financial (PCAF) standard ‘The Global GHG Accounting & Reporting Standard for the Financial Industry’. This standard is the only sector-specific one of its kind which enables financial institutions to assess and disclose the greenhouse gas emissions arising from their loans and investments. It is in line with the GHG protocol standard and complements the GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3), providing detailed additional guidelines for every asset class. A PCAF data quality score of 1 reflects an assessment carried out with the most precise data quality, while a score of 5 indicates an assessment conducted with the least precise data quality.
Results of the assessment of COOP Pank’s climate impact
- Coop Pank AS 2023 carbon footprintMore details of our carbon footprint can be found here.
- Coop Pank AS 2022 carbon footprintMore details of our carbon footprint can be found here.
- Coop Pank AS 2021 carbon footprintMore details of our carbon footprint can be found here.
COOP contributes in a number of ways
It’s important to us that we also turn attention to what we do as an organisation. For example, in our head office, where almost 85% of our staff work, we don’t use separate waste paper bins at every desk. We sort our waste by type: we gather up recyclable packaging and return it to collection points, donating the money we get back on it to organisations that arrange for kids to go to the theatre.
In 2022 Coop Pank entered into a cooperation agreement with GreenDice, which designs the ideal consumption cycles for technology products. The company will now organise the recycling and repurposing of the group’s used IT equipment. GreenDice’s system helps attain maximum value from old IT devices, finding new users for them or sending devices which are no longer usable for recycling as raw materials. The usage journey of the devices can be tracked at every point in their life cycle.