HSBC gets environmental award in financial sector category

MANILA, Philippines – The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd. (HSBC) in Hong Kong have been awarded the first Gold Award for its all-round outstanding environmental performance in the financial sector from the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The award aims to recognize and award organizations with outstanding environmental performance across every aspect of their business. Industry sectors covered include construction, financial institutions, hotels, restaurants and catering, property management, retail, transport, logistics, the public sector and non-governmental organizations.

This is the first time the Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence (HKAEE) have judged organizations by industry sector.

HSBC demonstrated its green leadership in a number of areas, including:

• carbon neutrality — HSBC was the world’s first bank and FTSE 100 Company to go carbon neutral in 2005. HSBC’s experience in operating a carbon-controlled business can be applied to its clients and the financial services sector;

• dedicated management team — HSBC has a dedicated Corporate Sustainability team covering the Asia-Pacific region to develop, coordinate and implement corporate sustainability and environmental initiatives across 20 countries/territories;

• staff engagement and environmental training — in partnership with Earthwatch, HSBC has developed a Climate Change business training program for its staff, which involves two weeks of scientific research activities in the primary and secondary forests of the Gutianshan National Nature Reserve in Zhejiang Province, East China. Upon return, these ‘climate champions’ will share their valuable knowledge and expertise with other colleagues to develop a more sustainable business and workplace;

• ability to influence with ‘green’ services — HSBC has policies in place to help customers manage risks in projects with high environmental and social impacts. In addition, HSBC helps customers invest in low-carbon and energy efficient technologies through Green Equipment Financing services. It has a Climate Change Centre of Excellence based in Bangalore, India, and launched its innovative Green Credit Card last year, in which a percentage of spending on the card is directed to an environmental program;

• environmental programs - since 2002, HSBC’s environmental management program has identified major areas of direct environmental impact and has actively managed them by setting targets and actions. HSBC has also committed to spending $90 million to reduce the environmental impact of its buildings and business operations over five years; and

• synergistic partnership programs: HSBC has a number of environmental partnership programs in the community to promote biodiversity, wetland conservation, environmental research and lifestyle changes. Examples include Hong Kong’s first carbon calculator, HSBC Wetland Days, and the HSBC Climate Partnership. The latter is a five-year $100-million global program with Earthwatch, The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, The Climate Group and WWF.