The Umweltbank AG is a German direct bank that exclusively finances ecological loan projects with its customer deposits.

Corporate philosophy

The Umweltbank has the objective of contributing to the protection of the environment through its business activities in every respect anchored in its statutes.

Business model

With its customer deposits, the bank exclusively finances ecological lending projects in the fields of

solar Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

, ecological mortgages, wind and

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...

projects,

biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bi ...

projects and organic farming. The Umweltbank defines these financing priorities by the following positive and exclusion criteria: Positive criteria: *

Energy saving Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively (using less energy for continuous service) or changing one's behavior to use less service (f ...

measures * Regenerative energy production * Decentralized energy production, combined heat and power * Environmentally friendly construction *

Ecological agriculture Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem ser ...

and ecological forestry *

Recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...

circular economy A circular economy (also referred to as circularity and CE) is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. CE aims ...

* Pollutant reduction and elimination * Sustainable business Exclusion criteria: * Large power plants ( brown coal/

hard coal Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the high ...

nuclear energy Nuclear energy may refer to: *Nuclear power, the use of sustained nuclear fission or nuclear fusion to generate heat and electricity * Nuclear binding energy, the energy needed to fuse or split a nucleus of an atom *Nuclear potential energy ...

) * Weapons or military goods (production/trade) * Environmentally harmful products or technologies (production/trade) * Non-compliance with environmental regulations *

Genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including t ...

in agriculture * Unfair business practices, e.g.

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

violations

Bodies

Compliance with environmental criteria for lending is controlled by an independent environmental council. As the ecological control body, it advises the Umweltbank on environmental matters and is thus the direct counterpart to the supervisory board. In addition, five expert teams consisting of members of the environmental advisory council and Umweltbank employees assist the management. These develop action recommendations in groups that feed into the further development of the Umweltbank's statutes.

The shares of the bank are 84.4 percent in free float, mainly held by customers and employees. The remaining 15.6 percent holds the GLS Bank. The subscribed capital amounts to €27,882,405 and is divided into 27,882,405 bearer shares ().

History and numbers

The bank was founded in 1994 by Horst P. Popp. In early 1997, it started business operations with the registration of a full

banking license A banking licence is a legal prerequisite for a financial institution that wants to carry on a banking business. Under the laws of most jurisdictions, a business is not permitted to carry words like a ''bank'', ''insurance'', ''national'' in th ...

in the

commercial register This is a list of official business registers around the world. There are many types of official business registers, usually maintained for various purposes by a state authority, such as a government agency, or a court of law. In some cases, ...

. In mid-2001, it went public. Since its foundation, the bank has grown steadily. The bank publishes a loan portfolio every year, which can be used to see what kind of projects have been financed. The loan portfolio in 2017 was composed as follows: 35.9 percent solar loans, 35.2 percent ecological building financing, 25.2 percent wind and hydro projects, and 3.7 percent biomass projects, organic farming and other projects. The total volume of the projects funded, which consisted of credit draws and open loan commitments, amounted to €2,710 billion (). The ratio of credit volume to customer deposits (referred to by the bank as the environmental guarantee coverage ratio) was around 114 percent in 2017 (). Overall,

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...

(CO₂₎ savings were achieved in 2017 from the more than 22,500 subsidized loan projects amounting to 538,827 t CO₂. The bank is a member of the statutory

deposit insurance Deposit insurance or deposit protection is a measure implemented in many countries to protect bank depositors, in full or in part, from losses caused by a bank's inability to pay its debts when due. Deposit insurance systems are one component of ...

, but does not belong to a deposit guarantee fund; thus deposits up to 100,000 euros are protected in full.

Public

Awards

Since its founding, the company has received several awards, including the Golden Bull for Sustainability 2009, B.A.U.M. Environmental Award 2010, the German CSR Prize 2013 and was awarded in the competition Office & Environment 2017. In 2017, the Umweltbank was honored by ''Chip'''s new customer-hotline-test. Several direct banks were compared with regard to their availability, waiting time, service and transparency. The Umweltbank made second place. In the customer survey of the German Institute for Service Quality on behalf of n-tv, the Umweltbank was awarded the quality rating ''very good''. Customer satisfaction was assessed in terms of service, conditions, transparency, security, image and reputation of the bank and product range. In addition, customer anger and readiness to recommend flowed into the overall result.

Engagement

The company supports various environmental organizations and conservation organizations through donations and membership fees. It is a member of various interest groups and associations that promote the preservation of the environment and an ecological way of life or promote the development of renewable energies. The Umweltbank is an official bearer of the Fair Company seal. In 2017, it introduced an environmental management system that is validated according to the guidelines of the

Eco-Management and Audit Scheme The Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is a voluntary environmental management instrument, which was developed in 1993 by the European Commission. It enables organizations to assess, manage and continuously improve their environmental perform ...

. In addition, the Umweltbank has also published the Declaration of Compliance with the German Sustainability Code. This makes it one of around 200 companies that use the standard drafted by the German Council for Sustainable Development for their non-financial reporting. The signing of the Diversity Charter advocates recognition and appreciation of all people in their corporate culture.

Criticism

The magazine ' reported that some investors were disappointed with the banking house. The bank had offered and sold them risky investments in wind farms with false advertising statements. Furthermore, it was reported that long-term investments in

wind farm A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used Wind power, to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundre ...

s were recommended as secure retirement provision. The losses sustained by investors in numerous

closed-end funds A closed-end fund (CEF) is a fund that raises capital by issuing a fixed number of shares which are not redeemable, and then invest that capital in financial assets such as stocks and bonds. Unlike open-end funds, new shares in a closed-end fund ...

distributed by the Umweltbank have led to allegations that the Umweltbank has deliberately misled investors about the risks of wind funds. The magazine ' reported in early 2014 that many wind power projects, which attracted savers with the promise of high returns, were running poorly. One example was the report of a wind farm participation, which the Umweltbank had advertised as an ''ideal supplementary pension'', but in which after a short time the prospective remittances did not occur. After a lawsuit filed by the Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband against the Umweltbank, the bank was defeated at the Nuremberg Higher Regional Court. The verdict was final. In the opinion of the court, the bank was not allowed to point out the advantages (high profit participation interest) without also presenting the risks accordingly. At the beginning of 2015, the Umweltbank was criticized for failing to inform on its homepage that the board had no budget discharge for 2013. According to a report by ' from

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, the Umweltbank is said to have refused a paid student his leave and continued salary in the event of sickness. The Umweltbank violated thereby valid employment law. According to the board, the bank has failed to do so due to an inappropriate administrative burden, which arises as part of a flexible working model. A student should have been dismissed without warning or a reason due to a submitted vacation request. However, according to the CEO Horst Popp this model is no longer offered for reasons of legal certainty. A judicial dispute between the bank and the student is pending. After persistent criticism, the founder of the bank and CEO Popp resigned as a member of the executive board on April 30, 2015. According to a report by the ' he was accused of violating the German Stock Corporation Act during the discharge of the Management Board for the 2013 financial year and of insufficiently pointing at the existing risks in the distribution of wind farm funds and profit participation certificates. At the annual general meeting on 15 June 2015, the Umweltbank was heavily criticized by investor representatives for a lack of transparency and decisions in an autocratic manner. Due to a computer error, the meeting had to be closed without result.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Banks of Germany Corporate finance Companies based in Nuremberg 1994 establishments in Germany