Corporate Sustainability Program

Our facilities operations make up around half of our carbon footprint due to the power we consume. To reduce our impact, we follow green building international standards.

We seek in all IDB facilities (when it is feasible) the highest levels of building sustainability standards such as:

• LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), 
• EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies), 
• FITWEL, 
• and WELL (Wellness, Health and Safety).

Besides our Headquarters, ten other offices have achieved LEED-certified status: the Country Offices in Brazil, Panama, Peru, and Costa Rica, the Service Center in Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Jamaica and most recently, Guatemala. Green building certifications like LEED demonstrate our commitment to continued progress in sustainability as they are awarded only to buildings that continuously improve energy, water, and waste management. 

We have maintained our high energy efficiency standards in our two main headquarters buildings in Washington, D.C., and we have earned the ENERGY STAR label annually since 2007. This label indicates that our buildings are among the top performers in the US in terms of energy conservation.

We generate our own renewable energy for our offices in the Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua, and Trinidad & Tobago with on-site solar panel systems. On average, these provide 37% of the electricity for these offices. By investing in these systems, we are also supporting local renewable-energy markets. 

Our goal is to achieve Zero Waste in our headquarters. We report our progress and results annually in the IDB’s Sustainability Report.

We are committed to using more energy-efficient vehicles. Hybrid and electric vehicles will contribute to the IDB’s carbon neutrality goal and reduce our carbon footprint.

Air travel is one of the biggest contributors of carbon emissions. The IDB remains focused on promoting green travel practices through reducing its business travel forecast and including green travel features on its online booking tool.

As part of our commitment to environmental sustainability, we encourage our staff to choose green commuting options whenever possible. In Headquarters and in several Country Offices, we offer options for green commuting (including electrical vehicle chargers, secured bike racks, showers, lockers and/or public transport incentives). We also celebrate Car Free Day and Bike to Work Day every year to raise awareness and motivate our staff to reduce their carbon footprint.

The IDB Group is walking the talk on climate change. We are working to continue reducing our corporate carbon emissions. We do this, for example, by:

• insulating windows for thermal control, 
• improving the efficiency of air conditioning units, 
• prioritizing the use and installation of LED bulbs and motion sensors, 
• contemplating ways to sustain reductions in travel and aligning travel regulations with industry best practices, 
• and implementing responsible purchasing practices. 

For the emissions we cannot reduce, we invest in projects that neutralize the carbon impact of our activities and improve the social and economic welfare of people in our client countries. The IDB was the first Multilateral Development Bank to commit to achieving carbon neutrality.