Environmental protection constitutes a key pillar of the Bank’s social responsibility. Aiming to reduce the environmental impact of its activities, the Bank carries out a number of environmental actions as part of the “BoGreen – Bank of Green” programme.
The “BoGreen” actions pertain to activities of both the Bank’s Mint and the rest of the Bank’s Units, including, indicatively:
- application of bioclimatic architectural design principles to its new buildings;
- modernisation of old buildings through energy upgrade projects in their facilities;
- phasing out of energy-intensive boilers and utilisation of alternative energy sources;
- rational water consumption and use of drill water;
- a wide-range recycling programme;
- minimisation of waste and optimisation of waste management;
- energy production from destroyed banknotes;
- gradual reduction of the print run of the Bank’s regular publications;
- introduction of “green criteria” in procurement; and
- actions to inform and raise the environmental awareness of its staff.
Environmental Policy and Environmental Management System
The Environmental Policy of the Bank of Greece, which was first formulated in May 2021 and has since been regularly reviewed and updated, aims to align all its activities with the environmental protection principles.
The Environmental Policy covers all the Bank's internal activities and its implementation is governed by the following main principles:
- the Administration’s commitment to actively support the strategic objectives of environmental protection and the optimisation of the Bank's environmental footprint;
- managing resources optimally and undertaking actions aiming to reduce the environmental footprint;
- complying with applicable international, European and national legislation;
- informing and raising the environmental awareness of staff, associated agencies and society;
- contributing to addressing environmental issues at national, European and international level;
- constantly evaluating environmental performance;
- identifying and managing environmental risks and opportunities.
The integration of the Environmental Policy principles into the Bank's operations is achieved through a coherent Environmental Management System (EMS) that encompasses all its activities. The EMS of the Bank of Greece has been certified in accordance with ISO 14001 by a recognised Certification Body registered with the Hellenic Accreditation System (ESYD) and member of the International Certification Network (IQNet).
The scope of certification covers all the activities of the Bank of Greece at its facilities, both in Attica and elsewhere in Greece.
ISO 14001 certification has also been obtained by the Printing Works Directorate (IETA), which, as a specialised, industrial unit within the Bank's structure, has been implementing since 2010 an autonomous Compliance Management System (CMS) for the printing of security products and the production of coins and medals.