Our Natural
Capital

Our primary goal is to continuously improve our environmental, social, and governance performance by conducting our banking activities in accordance with international sustainability standards and to integrate sustainability into our corporate strategy for a more livable future. In this context, we are aware of the impacts of climate change, one of the biggest challenges of our age, on both our operations and the financing we provide, and we aim to manage these impacts in the best way possible. We aim to play an active role in the transition to a low-carbon economy by effectively managing the risks caused by climate change.

In accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement’s maximum 1.5°C temperature increase target, VakıfBank continues its efforts to quantify greenhouse gas emissions and set targets. In 2019, we became the first Turkish public institution to announce its carbon emission reduction commitment by joining the Science Based Targets initiative led by many pioneering organizations. Accordingly, we set our science-based targets for carbon emission reduction and submitted them to SBTi, becoming the first Turkish Bank to have its targets approved by SBTi in 2023. According to our targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative, we aim for a 51% reduction in scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions in 2021 by 2032 to align them with the 1.5°C target. In addition, we remain steadfast in our pursuit of achieving the ‘net zero’ emissions target by 2050. The details of our goals approved by SBTi are available here.

In addition, we continue our efforts to achieve the annual reduction targets set by our Board of Directors in this process.

• 2% Electricity consumption per square meter
• 2% Natural gas consumption per square meter
• 2% Domestic water consumption per capita
• 2% Paper use per capita
• 2% Total reduction of carbon and greenhouse gas emissions

Thanks to the Environmental Management Department, we monitor our environmental performance through an electronic database system and effectively manage our greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. The Environmental Management Department not only regularly monitors this data but also audits it and directs all our departments to reduce natural resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The Environmental Management Department employs 8 full-time employees.

At VakıfBank, we calculate our greenhouse gas emissions at the level of all our locations in accordance with ISO 14064-1:2018 standards and have them verified by independent accredited organizations. We also establish an infrastructure for the evaluation and reporting of our organization’s water footprints, providing transparency, consistency, reproducibility, and reliability to benefit interested parties, calculating and verifying the amount of water resources and water use, achieving targets, and the CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) disclosures to be made in the coming years. In this respect, we are preparing a “Water Footprint Inventory Report” in accordance with “ISO 14046:2014 Water Footprint - Principles, Requirements and Guidelines.”

We transparently disclose our strategies and performance on water security and climate change, and how we manage risks and opportunities in this area to our investors and the public. In this context, we maintained our ‘A’ rating in the Climate Change Program and improved our rating in the Water Security Program to ‘A’ in the CDP assessments, which included data from over 24,800 organizations worldwide in 2024. As a result, we were honored to be included in CDP’s 2024 Global A List for both Climate Change and Water Security programs.

We prefer to use products with high efficiency to reduce the energy consumption of our Bank. We use central heating and cooling systems, energy-efficient servers, A-class inverter air conditioners, and energy-efficient products in this context. We use LED systems in lighting and turn off computers and phones centrally after specified hours.

Furthermore, in 2023, we commissioned water treatment systems in our Bank’s Head Office building located in the Istanbul Finance Center and in all our branches (excluding affiliated branches). With this practice, we aim to minimize the use of plastic. In this context, we demonstrated our environmental sensitivity by reducing plastic consumption from carboys and plastic bottles by 76% in 2024 compared to 2023 data.

As of 2024, we put a total of 341 hybrid vehicles and 150 electric vehicles into service. We commissioned electric vehicle charging stations in our Head Office building located in the Istanbul Finance Center for electric vehicles. Thanks to all these applications, we save energy, follow up, and report our carbon emissions under the Greenhouse Gas Emission Data Collection and Calculation Regulation.

We ensure continuity in ISO 50001 Energy Efficiency Management System certification. We continue to reduce our energy consumption.

In the 2024 audit period, as in the previous years, we obtained the ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management System certificate for all our locations to certify that we manage the direct environmental impact of our banking activities in compliance with international standards. We have enabled all VakıfBank employees to work in ISO 14001-certified buildings. We monitor the documentation for ISO 14001 Environmental Management System on the electronic database for Paper-free Banking activities.

Each year, we perform internal audits by the Inspection Board and external audits through independent external auditors in all our locations. In nonconformity during the audits, we create a corrective action form and work to solve the problem. We ensure coordination and efficiency in our work with the following procedures and the Environmental Management Department.

• Waste Control Procedure
• Assessment Environmental Dimensions and Control Plans Procedure
• Internal Audit Procedure
• Detection of Non-Compliance and Corrective Actions Procedure
• Determination and Follow-Up of Legal and Other Requirements Procedure
• Management Review Procedure

In order to reduce our environmental impact, we also consider the management of our wastes, separate our hazardous wastes, and conduct studies to reduce the amount of waste generated per person. We have completed the supervision of our hazardous and non-hazardous wastes and made them compatible with local and international regulations. We sort recyclable and hazardous wastes and dispose of them without harming the environment. We carry on to increase our recycling rate by keeping recycling bins in all our locations.

In addition, as part of the Zero Waste Project carried out jointly with the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, we have completed certification studies for all our locations as of 2022. In this context, we were granted a Zero Waste Certificate for our Head Office Building located in the Istanbul Finance Center in 2024.

We are aware that the financing of sustainable development in the combat against climate change takes an important place. This is the reason we prioritize renewable energy investments and provide finance to sustainable energy investments and projects. In 2024, we provided funds worth more than TL 13.7 billion to 30 renewable energy projects representing a total installed capacity of 843 MW. In the upcoming period, we shall continue to provide financial support to renewable energy and resource efficiency projects.

In 2024, we became a carbon-neutral bank by balancing the surplus Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions as we verified with an ISO 14064-1:2018 certification. As we previously targeted, we joined I-REC, an international certification system demonstrating power generation based on renewables in 2024. In this period, our electricity consumption was based fully on 100% renewable energy resources (except electricity consumed in foreign operations). Our environmental data is available here.

To raise our employees’ energy efficiency and climate change awareness, we provide them with training courses and develop environmentally sensitive behavioral models in areas such as energy saving and separation of waste at source both within and outside the Bank.

In 2024, we collaborated to transform the coffee waste generated in our offices into biodegradable coffee cups, coasters, and straws. With this sustainability project, we aim to reduce carbon emissions from coffee waste and become one of the leading coffee waste solution providers in the world. As of October 2024, we produced a total of 626.74 kg of coffee waste at the Head Office campus and as a result, we prevented the emission of 646.95 kg of CO2e greenhouse gas into the atmosphere.

Sustainability training activities conducted for more effective adoption of the sustainability vision by the employees were continued in 2024. 10,135 employees attended sustainability-themed e-learning courses in this period.

Accordingly, we delivered 90,394 hours of online sustainability courses and 12,920 hours of online environmental courses to employees in 2024. As of year-end 2024, 2,020 employees had received certificates as a result of the training sessions delivered under the ISO 9001 Quality Management System, ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System, and ISO 14001 Environmental Management System. Thus, we have at least one employee holding a certificate in each branch. Additionally, in this period, we have assigned both digital and in-class ISO 14001 Environmental Management System training to all our employees. 8,783 employees benefited from the digital ISO 14001 Environmental Management System training. 14,168 employees received the E-Zero Waste Training under the Zero Waste project.

In addition, during this period, we managed to help 2 people in need have a wheelchair with the collection of approximately 1,635 kg of plastic lids by employees in support of the plastic campaign conducted by TOFD (Spinal Cord Paralytics Association of Türkiye).

We reached 10,000 sapling donations in 2024 with the ‘One Forest for Every Year’ sapling donation campaign, which has been carried out since 2019 for our employees to contribute to nature and greenery.

Our Environmental Policy, established by us within the scope of our sustainability efforts with the aim of protecting the environment and continuously improving our environmental performance to ensure the sustainability of natural resources, is available here.