Schweizerische Nationalbank : Sustainability Report 2021

Sustainability Report 2021

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Contents

	Preface	5
1	Introduction	6
2	Employment	8
2.1	HR strategy	8
2.2	Workforce	9
2.3	Employee development	11
2.4	Working conditions	13
3	Equal opportunity and non-discrimination	17
3.1	Protecting the integrity of employees	17
3.2	Reporting system for violations of regulations	19
4	Standards and values	20
4.1	Background	20
4.2	Compliance approach	20
4.3	Key topics in the year under review	22
5	Contributions to society	24
5.1	Economic education	24
5.2	Specialist economic knowledge	27
5.3	Art and culture	29
6	Environment	30
6.1	Conserving natural resources	30
6.2	Environmental performance	30
6.3	Climate protection	37
7	Glossary and abbreviations	43

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Preface

Ladies and Gentlemen

The Enlarged Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank is pleased to present its Sustainability Report for 2021. The report shows what priorities the SNB is pursuing with regard to operational environmental and social issues, as well as contributions to society as part of its commitment to sustainability.

In 2021, the coronavirus pandemic continued to affect the operations of the SNB and therefore leaves its mark on this report. In the year under review, an average of 70% to 80% of employees were working from home, and many events, seminars and training workshops were held virtually or in hybrid form. This influenced the operational environmental performance indicators, which were at levels comparable to 2020, a year also shaped by the coronavirus pandemic. In 2021, the figures for business travel and transport, greenhouse gas emissions, paper usage and water consumption in particular were again very low.

In the year under review, the SNB achieved significant milestones in

its efforts to ensure equal opportunity and non-discrimination. Central to this were the introduction of a certified reporting system for violations of regulations, the ongoing development and detailed elaboration of its diversity strategy, and an equal pay analysis in accordance with the Gender Equality Act. The results show that the SNB complies with internal pay equality for women and men within the 5% tolerance threshold defined by the federal government.

In the year under review, the newly created specialist unit for sustainability commenced its activities. Its work focused on further alignment of the SNB's sustainability reporting with international standards and providing technical support to various projects, including a life cycle assessment

of the ninth banknote series, a summary of which can be found in the 'Environment' chapter.

The sustainability report is published annually online. Information on how the SNB fulfils its statutory mandate and the related tasks continues to

be provided in the accountability report submitted to the Federal Assembly.

Berne and Zurich, 22 March 2022

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