This basically means reducing energy use, buying green electricity from alternative energy sources, planting thousands of trees and then offsetting the remaining carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by investing in carbon credit or allowance projects. Banks are not generally seen as altruistic institutions, so what are the benefits for HSBC?
“We take our environmental responsibilities very seriously and this initiative is one of the key components of the group’s corporate social responsibility response,” says Francis Sullivan, HSBC’s adviser on the environment. His role was created almost a year ago to tackle the issue of what the bank can do to help address the problem of climate change. “To make this commitment real, the bank agreed an environmental action plan last July, with the support of both the chairman and CEO, and we are increasingly staffing up to manage our direct and indirect impacts on the environment.”
