Environmental responsibility

Climate and environmental protection

Climate change is a challenge that affects us all. PostFinance’s commitment to climate and environmental protection is ambitious. Find out our key targets, solutions and measures.

What we want to achieve in relation to sustainability

By 2030, we want to significantly reduce our CO₂ emissions compared to 2021: emissions from our own operations by 42 percent and those along our value chain by 25 percent.

We are also pursuing an independent goal for the properties owned by PostFinance. Our target is to reduce emissions from these properties by 63.6 percent by 2030.

We aim to achieve net zero emissions in our own operations from 2040. To this end, we intend to reduce our emissions by at least 90  percent compared to 2021, whilst removing and permanently storing the remaining emissions from the atmosphere.

We want to reduce emissions along our value chain by at least 90 percent by 2050 compared to 2021. In doing so, we place particular emphasis on financed emissions that arise as a result of our activities on the global capital market.

PostFinance is part of Swiss Post’s climate target. This includes building up a portfolio for CO₂ removal and storage. More about Swiss Post’s climate target.

Find out more about Swiss Post’s climate target in detail at swisspost.ch The link will open in a new window

Emission categories (Scopes)

PostFinance uses the Greenhouse Gas Protocol category system to record, assess and quantify greenhouse gas emissions. The report divides emissions into three categories:

  • Scope 1: direct emissions from own sources
  • Scope 2: indirect emissions from purchased energy
  • Scope 3: all other indirect emissions along the value chain, such as suppliers, transport and use of products

PostFinance’s biggest opportunity to effect change lies in indirect financed emissions (Scope 3, category 15), i.e. the positions in its own investment portfolio.

Find out more about Scopes 1 to 3

Our climate targets are fully in line with those of the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 °C, and with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) .

PostFinance is one of the few Swiss financial institutions with a science-based climate target that meets SBTi requirements.

How we will proceed: our timetable

We have enshrined our climate targets in our strategy and set a timetable for implementing our sustainability goals. This timetable contains five programmes of measures.

Our programmes of measures

  1. Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in financed emissions
  2. Investments in companies with SBTi-validated reduction or net zero targets
  3. Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from in-house operations and energy use
  4. Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the up- and downstream value chain for in-house operations
  5. Shift to renewable energy

Our timetable shows information such as solutions, what we have achieved so far, current measures, responsibilities, reference frameworks we have used, uncertainties and measurements.

Find out more in the Sustainability Report 2025 (PDF) The link will open in a new window

The solutions and measures we are pursuing

The majority of our greenhouse gas emissions come from our financial investments (Scope 3, category 15). That’s why we’ve set ourselves the goal of reducing these financed emissions by 25 percent by 2030 compared to 2021.

By doing so, we’re contributing to Swiss Post’s and PostFinance’s climate target of reducing emissions along the value chain by at least 90 percent by 2050 compared to 2021.

Financed emissions from our own investments

Financed emissions are the main option that banks have for reducing emissions. But what are financed emissions? Banks are active on the capital market with customer funds (own investments ).

PostFinance mainly invests in corporate bonds and thus in companies that are responsible for generating a certain amount of greenhouse gases. Because PostFinance is invested in these companies, it is “allocated” a certain share of these emissions as a financial institution.

These indirect emissions are many times higher than our own emissions generated by our real estate operations or company vehicles, for example, even if they are much less “visible” at first glance.

Solutions and measures

We are working to increase the proportion of companies in our portfolio that, like PostFinance, have science-based targets for greenhouse gas reduction. As a result, financed emissions in the portfolio are continually being reduced and our own investment portfolio ultimately aligns with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.

The exclusion list of the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund is used to exclude particularly CO2-intensive companies.

By regularly monitoring financed CO2 emissions and reviewing current target attainment, we are ensuring that our reduction target of -25 percent by 2030 will be achieved.

By 2040, PostFinance aims to hold financial investments only in companies that have an SBTi-validated climate target.

Solution and measures

The proportion of financial investments in our portfolio in companies with SBTi-validated targets will be continuously increased (see image). The greenhouse gas emissions from the financed companies with SBTi-validated climate targets will be reduced in the medium and long term. As a result of this reduction and a steadily increasing share of companies with SBTi-validated climate targets in the PostFinance portfolio, PostFinance’s financed emissions will also fall.

The bar chart shows the proportion of companies with science-based targets in PostFinance’s portfolio. On 31.12.2022, the proportion was 20.6%, on 31.12.2023, it was 26.9%, and on 31.12.2024, it was 31.9%. This proportion will be increased to 100 percent by 2040. The interim targets are 35% for 2027 and 50% for 2050.

By 2040, the proportion of companies with science-based targets in PostFinance’s portfolio will be increased to 100 percent. The interim targets are 35 percent for 2027 and 50 percent for 2030.

Energy use and our company vehicles are particularly relevant to emissions from our own operations. We want to reduce these emissions (Scopes 1 and 2) by 42 percent by 2030 compared to the base year 2021.

We are also pursuing a specific reduction target for the properties owned by PostFinance, i.e. to reduce emissions from these properties by 63.6 percent by 2030 compared to 2021.

Solution and measures

Company real estate: we are insulating building envelopes and optimizing building services. However, the biggest form of leverage in this respect is replacement of heating systems, some of which are still currently based on fossil fuels, with renewable energy sources.

Company vehicles: we are systematically replacing our vehicles with battery-powered models.

In our value chain, indirect emissions are generated by activities such as business travel, employee commuting and procurement.

We aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our value chain by 25 percent by 2030: in staff commuter mobility, procurement and, in turn, in PostFinance’s supply chain.

Solutions and measures

Procurement: we are working to improve transparency relating to greenhouse gas emissions in our procurement and, as a result, in our supply chain. To help with this, we use the EcoVadis rating tool. This enables us to evaluate the environmental performance of our suppliers who are registered there based on various criteria and indicators. For strategic suppliers, we consider their specific climate and environmental targets.

Commuter mobility: to reduce our employees’ commuter travel, we offer extensive options for working from home. We also encourage use of public transport, non-motorized modes of transport and switching to e-mobility.

Find out more in our blog post “Employee mobility”

Emissions from in-house operations (Scopes 1 and 2) come from fossil fuels. By 2028, 94.2 percent of PostFinance’s total energy consumption is expected to come from renewable sources.

Solution and measures

We are pressing ahead with the switch to renewable energy, particularly in our properties (replacing heating systems) and the electrification of our vehicle fleet. We also promote measures to improve efficiency with a view to reducing overall energy consumption.

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