Climate and environment

Gas consumption

We mainly use natural gas to heat our buildings (in some minor cases, we still use fuel oil, but this is not a significant amount). In 2023, emissions associated with natural gas were 26% lower than in 2021 and 56% lower than in 2019. There are two main reasons for this sharp reduction:

• We have fewer buildings (more and more buildings are being closed each year).
• We have greater energy efficiency for each building.

Customer vehicles

In 2023, there was an increase in emissions related to Belfius Auto Lease. This was due to a disruption in the automotive supply chain, which caused significant delays in deliveries and, as a result, a large increase of 30 kt CO2e (for 2023), which cancelled out any emission reductions achieved in other categories.

Company restaurant

A number of initiatives have been put in place to reduce food and non-food waste, including composting food waste or converting it into biogas, using sustainable products, giving priority to shorter production chains and eliminating single-use plastics.

• Emissions linked to employee travel decreased by 2% in 2023 despite a significant increase in the number of new employees.
• Emissions linked to business travel fell by 13%. This was mainly due to a sharp reduction in air travel.
• The introduction of a new structural teleworking status in 2022 has steadily reduced commuting and the associated CO₂ emissions. Belfius also makes every effort to promote modes of transport that emit as little CO₂ as possible.
• Since May 2023, only fully electric cars can be ordered by Belfius employees. This means that the entire Belfius car fleet will be decarbonised by the end of 2028.
• Charging stations have been installed at the Belfius head office in Brussels and at local branches.

⁽¹⁾ Improvements were made to the stocks and bonds, as well as the mortgage loans of 2022, to allow for a better comparison with 2023.
⁽²⁾ Both construction and renovation loans are not considered under the asset classes of mortgage loans and commercial real estate loans due to the lack of a methodology in the PCAF 2022 standard. We plan to determine the incorporated emissions (i.e., the financed scope 3 emissions for mortgage loans associated with the construction process and material use throughout the building's lifecycle) in the near future to expand our understanding of the actual environmental impact of our portfolio.
⁽³⁾ Not part of the PCAF methodology, a detailed description of the calculation methodology can be found in the Appendix of the 2023 sustainability report.
⁽⁴⁾ This asset class includes loans for vehicles for both retail and commercial customers.
⁽⁵⁾ The methodology for project financing covers only power generation projects, all of which are renewable projects at Belfius.
⁽⁶⁾ De totale hoeveelheid emissies waarvoor een methodologie bestaat.
⁽⁷⁾ In 2023, we also determined for the first time our sovereign emissions, i.e., emissions associated with our sovereign financing activities. However, to avoid double counting of emissions, these are not included in the total sum of emissions.
⁽⁸⁾ The highest score, score 1, represents the highest data quality corresponding to the actual emissions of the company or asset, while the lowest score, score 5, represents the broadest estimates based on the sectoral average of the financed activity.