Responsible Consumption
and Production

GHG Emissions

Since 2017 FBD has been obtaining independent third party validation of its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It has enlisted the services of Clearstream Solutions for this measurement and verification. They have calculated Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions for FBD. The GHG verification methodology employed entails:

• Interviews with key personnel;
• Review of methodology for data collection, aggregation and appropriate classification of emission sources;
• Review of data and information systems and controls.

Carbon Neutrality

FBD has purchased carbon offsets from an Irish overseas development agency called Vita. The carbon offsets purchased offset the total Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions as well as those emissions generated by business mileage done by its employees in 2021. This is the second year that FBD is carbon neutral in respect of these GHG emissions.

Vita is an Irish overseas development agency working in Africa for nearly thirty years, fighting hunger and latterly, the impacts of climate change. Vita sells voluntary carbon offsets on the wholesale and retail voluntary market using the Gold Standard, an independent and highly respected accreditation agency that operates to UN rules which determines the emission savings from projects.

Carbon Disclosure Project

On an annual basis FBD completes voluntary disclosure to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). CDP is a non-profit charity which supports the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts. CDP takes independently verified information supplied by FBD, and scores our progress on climate action on a scale from A to F.

FBD’s rating in respect of 2021 (CDP submission for 2022 will not be done until July 2023) is a ‘B’ which is in the Management category and is defined by CDP as “Taking coordinated action on climate issues”. The European Regional and the Financial Services sector averages are B and B- respectively. This rating represents an increase on the previous years ‘C’ rating and reflects the additional focus that FBD has placed on ESG issues in this period.

Scope 3 Emissions

Scope 3 emissions are indirect emissions generated as a result of doing business from FBD’s upstream and downstream activities. Due to the lack of reliable data it can be difficult to quantify the emissions from some of these activities. In 2022, FBD conducted a screening exercise to identify the main contributors to its Scope 3 emissions in conjunction with an external climate consultant.

Progress has been made in quantifying the emissions from some of these sources - the following table lists the activities identified as well as the methodology used in estimating the amount of Scope 3 emissions. We expect to refine the calculations of the emissions from these sources over time as better quality data becomes available. Due to the estimated nature of some of these numbers they should be considered indicative rather than the true level of FBD’s emissions.

More work is required to quantify the emissions from the following sources:

• Purchased goods and services and
• Employee commuting and working from home