Climate-neutral operations
We are working towards operating in a climate-neutral way by 2030. The Dutch government sees itself as having a role to play in setting an example and so wants to achieve this goal by 2030. We have aligned with this goal because climate and environmental safety are also important for our clients’ social and economic security. The SVB is therefore aiming to reduce its CO2 emissions by 50% in 2025 compared with 2019. This target has been achieved.
SVB uses the CO2-Performance Ladder
To provide insight into our CO2 footprint and reduce our CO2 emissions, we use the CO2Performance Ladder. Many government agencies use this system. We also communicate on whether we have achieved our goals. Every step in the process is verified by an external auditor.
In January 2025, we are recertified for the CO2-Performance Ladder certification at Level 4.
We took action in 2023 to make the SVB offices more sustainable and also to reduce our CO2 emissions from travel and on the goods and services we procure. Details of these measures are set out in our CO2 management plan.
Green energy reduced our carbon footprint in 2024
Our switch to green energy as from 1 January 2024 has had a clear impact on our carbon footprint . The CO2 emission for all of 2024 totalled 1,604 tonnes, compared with 3,932 tonnes in 2023. As a result of this switch, natural gas was the biggest single contributor to the CO2 emissions in our carbon footprint.
CO2 emissions for 2024
Our CO2 emissions are shown in a graph for the base year 2021 and for 2023 and 2024 (only in Dutch).
| Categorie | 2021 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aardgasverwarming | 970 | 527 | 552 |
| Elektriciteit | 3.645 | 2.672 | 353 |
| Zakelijke reizen | 116 | 264 | 233 |
| Stadswarmte | 191 | 205 | 198 |
| OV-kilometers | 17 | 106 | 125 |
| Vliegreizen | 12 | 83 | 101 |
| Brandstof eigen wagenpark | 36 | 73 | 37 |
| Ingekochte diesel | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Totaal | 4.988 | 3.932 | 1.604 |
The breakdown of CO2 emissions per scope is as follows:
- Scope 1: 594 tonnes of CO2 emissions (37%). This is a drop of 1.5% compared with 2023
- Scope 2: 551 tonnes of CO2 emissions (34%). This is a drop of 80% compared with 2023
- Scope 3 (business travel): 460 tonnes of CO2 emissions (29%). This is an increase of 1.7% compared with 2023
When we were about to finish this report, we ascertained that some flights had not been included in our carbon footprint because they were booked in a different manner. The impact of these flights on our carbon footprint will be included in our next progress report and we will recalculate our carbon footprint for 2024.
CO2 emissions for natural gas heating and electricity in 2024
In the period from 2021 to 2024, we saw a sharp drop in our CO2 emissions from electricity as a result of our switching to green energy. Our electricity consumption has increased though. Most of our remaining electricity consumption relates to the office premises we rent in Utrecht Papendorp, where green energy is not yet being used. Based on the figures, we reduced our emissions from electricity from 2,672 tonnes in 2023 to 353 tonnes in 2024.
The figures show a slight increase in our emissions from natural gas heating for the same period. They also show a slight increase in the total consumption of natural gas. The figures show that natural gas heating increased from 527 tonnes in 2023 to 552 tonnes in 2024.
CO2 emissions in 2024 not including natural gas heating and electricity
In the case of other categories, the CO2 emissions figures for 2021 to 2024 present a mixed picture. For example, the total demand for district heating fell. The emissions for business travel were reduced because we have an electric vehicle fleet and because our employees use their private cars less for business travel. Other categories of transport increased, including air travel.
Emissions in tonnes for the years 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024:
natural gas heating: 970 - 613 - 527 - 552
electricity: 3,645 - 3,238 - 2,672 - 353
business travel: 116 - 213 - 264 - 233
district heating: 191 - 156 - 205 - 198
public transport kilometres: 17 - 48 - 106 - 125
air travel: 12 - 98 - 83 - 101
fuel for vehicle fleet: 36 - 33 - 73 - 37
diesel purchased: 1 - 1 - 3 - 4
Progress in achieving our goals
We are on track in terms of achieving our primary goal. We even achieved our intermediate goal of reaching the halfway point by 2025 before we switched to green energy in 2024.
As this goal was achieved sooner than anticipated, our goal for 2025 is to reduce our gas consumption by 4%, expressed in m3, compared with 2023.
We have been using electric pool cars since February 2024. We are on track in terms of achieving our goal. At present, 74% of our vehicle fleet is electric (43 of the 58 cars).
This goal has been achieved, but we are seeing an increase in work-related mobility. We are therefore monitoring the results. In 2024, 233 tonnes of CO2 were emitted compared with 880 tonnes in 2016 (measurement year 2015). We expect work-related mobility to stabilise in 2025.
Progress in supply chain analyses
IT hardware is a significant cause of CO2 emissions in scope 3. We have therefore subjected this category of emissions to an in-depth supply chain analysis and taken various specific measures to reduce our hardware and extend its lifespan.
The total annual emissions from IT hardware was reduced from 1,240 tonnes (the baseline measurement in 2023) to 1,107 tonnes (by late 2024), which is a reduction of 10.7% compared with the baseline measurement (the first supply chain analysis) made in early 2023. This result is largely attributable to the reduced number of printers and our switch to green energy.
We have taken measures to ensure that hardware is used longer, which means that we need less of it:
- it is no longer standard practice to issue telephones to new employees or to replace them routinely
- laptops are repaired where possible. At present, laptops are used for their full technical lifespan of 5 years and then replaced
- computer screens are used for their full lifespan
Energy consumption
By installing separate metering equipment and using dashboard-based systems, we are increasingly gaining insight into our IT systems’ energy consumption.
More than 90% of the CO2 emissions from hirings can be attributed to commuting. The first calculation for 2023 showed that emissions were 881 tonnes. Emissions dropped by 12% to 774 tonnes in December 2024. This drop was directly related to a drop in the number of temporary staff members hired through the broker. For this reason, these emissions are measured several times a year.
Working with other organisations
We are participating in various initiatives with other parties in the supply chain so that we can learn from each other and share insights. One of the ways in which we are doing this is in the central government’s Community of Practice CO2 Performance Ladder, with guidance from Pianoo and SKAO. We also play an active role in the corporate social responsibility platform ‘Maatschappelijk Verantwoord Ondernemen’ provided by the government-wide benchmark group (RBB group), and where sustainability advisers from the affiliated organisations share their experience and discuss new developments.National government
We terminated this research project, which was conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of the Interior and the Chamber of Commerce (KvK), because the expectation was that little progress would be made. The findings from this project are compiled in an overview.
At present, we only use generative AI (GenAI ) for experiments because it can have adverse effects for citizens. To gain experience and examine the advantages of the new techniques, we are participating in experiments. One of these experiments is project Linnaeus. Linnaeus is a joint study we are conducting in partnership with the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) into which AI language model can be trained best for use in the social insurance arena.
We are the initiator of the sustainability questions and the sustainability research linked to project Linnaeus.
The provisional research questions are:
- GenAI has a potentially negative impact on sustainability because of its high energy consumption. How big is that difference? What can we do to reduce this impact?
- Is it possible to use GenAI only if it adds value to an application?
- If we use GenAI, how can we ensure that it is used right the first time so that less energy is consumed as a result of failed queries?
Later on in the project, we specify what exactly we can include in the measurement. We will first start by setting up the hardware needed for this project in early 2025.
This experiment was started with UWV, Logius en Stichting Rinis. The Education Executive Agency (DUO) and the Chamber of Commerce have stated that they are interested in the findings. The SVB had already reached a consensus with the Linnaeus project group at an earlier stage. We are now also taking stock of GenAI and other AI experiments being conducted by other organisations to examine where and how sustainability has been included in the research questions so that we can include that experience in our own research.
Results for previous periods
Also view the results for previous periods.