Our environmental strategy is focused on the sustainable use of resources in our operations, and on offering services. through energy efficiency, comprehensive waste management, water savings and sustainable mobility initiatives.

Environmental policy

We have a public environmental policy aligned with current laws and regulations, national and international initiatives, and the ISO 14000 international standard, which encompasses the following aspects:

• Responsibilities
• Identification and management of environmental indicators and their impacts
• Compliance with applicable legislation
• Execution of initiatives for efficient, responsible management, use and consumption of resources (energy, water, waste)
• Incorporation of environmental criteria into the procurement process
• Collaboration with stakeholders
• Membership in international initiatives
• Minimization of environmental impact in credit and investment activities
• Transparent communication of our performance

Through our environmental impact identification, assessment and classification matrix, we provide support for our policies and annually review the business processes that may be exposed to current or potential material risk in terms of the environment. With this, we manage 128 aspects that involve six possible environmental impacts, and identified the current legislation applicable to us in these areas.

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GFNorte total energy consumption

Diesel calculation includes consumption by utility vehicles and backup power generators; LP gas includes forklifts and a kitchen; gasoline includes only utility vehicles.

Gasoline consumption in utility vehicles at Arrendadora y Factoraje (through September) and Almacenadora, as well as diesel consumption from fixed sources at Banorte, were estimated based on expenses and average monthly prices indicated by the Energy Regulation Commission (CRE) for each fuel.

Emission intensity calculated based on 30,167 employees, including full-time employees, independent contractors and other professional service suppliers, and net income of Ps. 36.53 billion.

Our building and branch infrastructure is equipped with features that enable them to operate efficiently, like double-pane insulating glass, sunlight optimization and low-consumption equipment. Thanks to these measures, Torre KOI and Torre Mayor have LEED gold and silver certifications, respectively.

Our network of Banorte branches functions according to the Comprehensive Energy Control System. They have high-efficiency equipment that regulate the operating hours of light fixtures and air conditioning. Also, two of them have solar panels, which generated 9,000 kWh in the year, by our estimates, avoiding the emission of 4.6 metric tons of CO₂e.

Having identified branches with a high consumption of electricity, we executed four energy efficiency pilot tests, with measures that ranged from metering and monitoring indicators in real time to adjusting equipment setpoints. With these initiatives, we reduced consumption by 74,000 kWh per year, equivalent to 37 metric tons of CO₂.

Additionally, by monitoring equipment in the network of administered buildings, we ran a program to automatically shut down computers outside of working hours, saving 726,000 kWh of electricity, equivalent to 367 metric tons of CO₂.

Emission intensity calculated based on 30,167 employees, including full-time employees, independent contractors and other professional service suppliers, and net income of Ps. 36.53 billion.

To calculate scope 1 emissions, we used factors published by the Ministry of the Environment in the Official Gazette of the Federation, in the agreement to establish technical specificities and formulas for application of methodologies to calculate greenhouse gas or compound emissions. For scope 2 emissions, which includes emissions from the consumption of electricity, we used the 2019 electrical emission factor estimated by the Energy Regulation Commission (CRE).

In line with the commitments assumed by Mexico under the Paris Agreement, our goal is to achieve a 30% reduction in emissions intensity by 2020, using 2009 as a baseline. We have currently reached 59.8% of that target.

Emissions intensity (Metric tons CO₂e per employee), progress toward 2020 goal

Furthermore, since 2016 we have been a member of the Science Based Targets (SBT) initiative to establish medium- and long-term reduction targets, based on international scientific standards. Applying the C-Fact methodology published by Autodesk, we set absolute and intensity targets, and report on our progress annually in the CDP questionnaire.

Scope 3 emissions

Corporate travel

Our executives traveled a total of 20,568,287 kilometers by air in 2019, representing 1,995.12 metric tons of CO₂ emitted into the atmosphere, 11% more than the year before. To offset this impact, we encourage employees to connect digitally to online meetings and videoconferences. We registered 104,028 videoconferences, close to a thousand more than the year before. The scope of these indicators includes all group employees.

Employee commuting

To encourage ride-sharing, we established an agreement with Waze Mexico, in which more than 300 employees in Mexico City and Monterrey are currently active. In four months we were able to avoid almost 145,000 kilometers of travel and reduce CO₂e emissions by 25.237 kilograms.

Refrigerant gases

Emissions from refrigerant recharges totaled 5,274.5 metric tons of CO₂e, 49% of which came from R-410 gas (which does not affect the ozone layer) and the rest from R22 gas. The scope of this calculation includes the facilities of Banorte and Afore XXI - 94% of employees. Furthermore, since 2015 Banorte has acquired no equipment that uses R22 gas.

Emissions in the investment portfolio

According to the GHG Protocol for Scope 3 emissions associated with investments, we calculate 89,473.10 metric tons of CO₂e, corresponding to 84.9% of the equity assets of the portfolios of our fund managers (Operadora de Fondos and Administradora de Portafolios de Inversión). These emissions correspond to information published by the respective issuers for fiscal year 2018, and include scope 1 and 2 emissions.

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Based on the results of the waste separation program introduced at our Santa Fe Corporate Offices, we estimated waste based on the kilograms/employee indicator, which represent a scope of 43.2% of the total employees, which we extrapolated to the rest of our administrative buildings. This gave us a total generation of 245.44 metric tons of waste. The program began in April and the calculation encompasses various types of waste, both recyclable and non-recyclable.

We continue to work on reducing the generation of solid urban waste and on correctly disposing of special-handling waste. Through our waste separation program, we channeled 516.5 metric tons to recycling (449.7 tons were from dead file) and collected 10.8 metric tons for donation to various charitable causes, such as maintenance and restoration of school furniture and cancer treatments.

Furthermore, we promoted the efficient use of paper in our operations through the use of digital media and cross selling to reduce consumption.

One of the strategies implemented is our Origina program, which optimizes contract formats and reduces the number of pages in each contract. This initiative eliminated the printing of approximately 8,880,564 sheets, equivalent to 40.14 metric tons of paper.

Together with this, we applied technological changes in the regulations to reduce paper consumption by eliminating account statements in credit card applications. It is no longer necessary to attach account statements for credit card and payroll paperwork—this is now done through a system that uses clients’ historic balances as a reference.

Also, through an application called Papercut we were able to efficiently administer 500 multifunctional printers in banking industry corporate buildings by controlling the number of printouts per user. The scope included 9,197 users, with which we avoided 860,560 printouts, or 3.4 metric tons of paper saved.

We also encouraged clients to skip the printout of their vouchers at ATMs. With this initiative, we were able to reduce the number of paper rolls supplied to the ATMs by more than 30%, equivalent to more than 117 tons of paper and a saving of Ps. 2.9 million.

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GFNorte water consumption

Based on our water bills and the average price for each state, we estimate water consumption of 714,835 m³. The water we use comes from the public water supply and is channeled to the local sewer systems where we operate. To ensure a more efficient use of this vital resource, our corporate buildings have water-saving devices installed in its sinks, and dry, odorless low-consumption urinals.

Furthermore we have rainwater capture systems installed on our rooftops, along with conventional gutters, creating a network of conduits for carrying the rainwater toward a cistern. The water is then run through a deep-bed filter for reuse.

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We encourage the sustainable use of urban spaces. Our primary axis of action is our green rooftop project, located in the Roberto González Barrera Contact Center in Monterrey, Nuevo León. The rooftop has 1,784 m2 of landscaped area, which holds 60 species of Mexican plants, 13 of them classified under environmental protection standard NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010.

In October, the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) created a green rooftop project where students from various engineering programs evaluated its environmental services and submitted proposals to amplify the services it provides.

We participated in the fourth Flowers and Garden Festival in Polanco, Mexico City. We participated in the restoration of the Lincoln Vegetable Garden in Parque Lincoln, helping to build awareness of sustainability issues in the general public through workshops for children, tours, and various activities relating to land biomes. We also decorated three of our branches with flowers during the Flowers and Garden Festival, and later donated the flowers to a university for research purposes. The remaining plants were donated to Fundación Hogares to create a neighborhood garden.

In partnership with Reforestamos México and in coordination with local communities, 614 volunteers participated in four reforestation events, in which 6.5 hectares were restored with 5,600 trees. With this, we hope to propagate environmental benefits in these woodland areas, protect and preserve biodiversity, avoid soil erosion, improve water infiltration capacity in the subsoil and clean the air. Upon reaching maturity, these species can capture an estimated 183.68 metric tons of carbon.

We donated to the Reino Animal sustainable flora and fauna conservation center, located in a protected natural area covering 52 hectares, home to more than 1,440 examples of 130 species of mammals, reptiles, birds, fish and insects. Its various lines of action are focused on environmental education and research and care and conservation of the area and the species that live there. We took part in the release of two red-tailed hawks in the protected natural area of Cerro Gordo in Teotihuacán. These species were channeled to this conservation center by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of the Environment, and were rehabilitated so they could re-adapt to the natural ecosystem. Banorte contributed devices for monitoring these species.