Doing business sustainably at LGT

Doing business sustainably is one of the bank’s fundamental corporate principals. We contribute to protecting the environment and the climate on many levels. In everything we do, we count on employees who identify with our values and who make a long-term commitment to our clients, our company, society and the environment.

Our commitment to doing business sustainably can be broken down into the three traditional sustainability segments: environment (E), social (S) and governance (G).

E for Environment – doing business sustainably for a healthy environment

LGT has been pursuing prudent environmental and operations management for many years and has already reached several important milestones. In our Sustainability Strategy 2025, we have defined further ambitious goals in the areas of mobility, facility management, procurement, digitalization, energy consumption and CO₂ emissions.

Building management: From the planning and construction phase, inauguration and regular operation, through to maintenance and renovation, our building management is consistently geared towards sustainability. All new buildings are constructed in accordance with LEED or equivalent standards. Egerta 2, which we realized in 2020, is Liechtenstein’s first Minergie A-P eco-certified building. Furthermore, in 2021, LGT installed a photovoltaic system on the façade of its Service Center in Bendern to supply LGT with solar power. We expect to receive LEED Platinum certification for a new building in planning at our headquarters.
Operational reviews and improvements: When it comes to protecting our environment and climate, we focus on increasing energy efficiency. The buildings in Geneva and Zurich, for instance, are heated and cooled exclusively with lake water. We generate electricity and heat on our buildings in Liechtenstein with photovoltaic and solar systems. In our Service Center in Liechtenstein, we produced 13 percent of the electricity we required in 2021 ourselves, and nearly 10 percent of the heating energy.
Reduction, substitution and compensation: By 2025, we aim to reduce our per person CO₂ emissions by 20 percent compared to 2017. We want to source only renewable heat and heating energy, worldwide, and reduce paper consumption group-wide by 30 percent per person compared with 2017. We offset unavoidable CO₂ emissions from business operations and business-related flights. To do so, we have supported a wind power project in India since 2019, which is certified with the Gold Standard Label and managed and monitored by First Climate Markets AG.

Key environmental figures

		2021	2020	2019
Total energy consumption	MWh	16'420	16'458	16'335
> Electricity	MWh	12'191	11'787	11'626
> Heating/Cooling	MWh	4'229	4'671	4'709
Paper consumption	Tonnes	171	203	237
> Proportion of 100% recycled paper	%	42.0	43.2	32.6
Waste	Tonnes	443	465	409
Air kilometre	km	3'489'798	4'101'486	31'119'725
Drinking water	m³	29'222	31'044	32'881
CO₂ emissions	Tonnes	4'900	3'947	9'347

Reinvesting the CO₂ tax refund: We have been donating the refunds LGT receives from the CO₂ tax to the Swiss Climate Foundation since 2012. The Climate Foundation supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Switzerland and Liechtenstein with energy efficiency measures and innovation projects that contribute to protecting the climate.
Mobility: In order to reduce traffic, LGT encourages the use of public transport. Bicycles are available to employees at various locations, and clients and employees can recharge their electric vehicles at in-house charging stations. In addition, some of our employees in Switzerland and Liechtenstein take part in the nationwide “Bike-to-work” campaigns, which aim to raise public awareness for car-free mobility.
Sustainable procurement: In our procurement process, we attach great importance to ensuring that products comply with our sustainability principles from production through to disposal. We require our suppliers adhere to the LGT Supplier Code of Conduct, which is based on the LGT Code of Conduct as well as internationally recognized principles such as the UN Global Compact. This includes ensuring that our suppliers’ sub-contractors also comply with these principles, which cover areas such as labor standards, human rights, environmental issues and fighting corruption.

LGT Code of Conduct for Suppliers (PDF)

LGT Code of Conduct (PDF)

S for Social – commitment to society and employees

The LGT Employee Volunteering Program — More information

Satisfied and healthy employees are the most important asset of any company. We strive to offer our employees fair and attractive working conditions and a pleasant work environment. LGT Bank Switzerland and LGT Bank Liechtenstein have received the Top Employer Award several times. With our Sustainability Strategy 2025, we have set ourselves further goals for employee development and promotion.

Liechtenstein Academy
Our health management program LGT Vitality is designed to strengthen the long-term performance and health of our employees.
LGT has a strict value system and adheres to ethical and professional standards that are set out in the LGT Code of Conduct. It treats its employees with respect and is open to and appreciates different opinions, perspectives and cultural practices. In 2021, people from over 66 nations worked at LGT.
With the Employee Volunteering Program (EVP), we provide our employees with opportunities to support less privileged people or help protect the environment. Over the last five years, around five percent of all employees have participated in various EVP initiatives. For example, we support the Tech for Austria education initiative and we are promoting and facilitating pro bono opportunities to the Fore Trust in the UK, a seed fund for nonprofits that also provides financial and professional expertise to charities. LGT employees in Hong Kong, Singapore and New York are also involved in various programs and initiatives that benefit society. Additionally, we started a collaboration with B360 Education Partnerships in 2020 to offer our employees skills-based volunteering opportunities. The association facilitates know-how exchange between European experts and African students.
Since 2014, LGT has acknowledged the work of charitable organizations in Liechtenstein with the LGT Award for Social Commitment. The prize, which is endowed with CHF 50 000, is awarded every two years to social organizations in Liechtenstein.
LGT has been a partner of the nonprofit organization Drink & Donate since 2016. With the slogan “Drink tap water, support water projects,” we encourage employees to avoid bottled water and to drink tap water. We also donate CHF 100 000 per year to Drink & Donate water projects selected by employees.

Drink & Donate

G for Governance – Good corporate governance for trust and stability

The LGT Code of Conduct - our common value system — More information

Responsible and effective corporate governance is very important to LGT and essential for gaining and strengthening the trust of clients, employees, the company’s owner and other stakeholders.

The LGT Code of Conduct – Our shared system of values

Our business policy is based on performance, professionalism and fairness as well as high ethical standards. Our LGT Code of Conduct sets out a minimum standard that we must meet even in cases where national legislation is less strict. The LGT Code of Conduct sets out binding ethical and professional standards for all employees as well as the Foundation Board and Board of Directors.

André Lagger, CEO LGT Financial Services

“Our facility management has been underpinned by sustainable criteria for many years. Since 2010, LGT has been CO₂-neutral. In the years to come, we will continuously strive to further reduce our environmental footprint.”

André Lagger, CEO LGT Financial Services