27 April 2005
HSBC, the world's second largest bank, is making progress in its bid to put Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) right at the heart of its business, its new CSR report reveals.
The annual CSR report, published today, outlines HSBC's efforts to reduce adverse social and environmental impacts from its operations. In December 2004, it announced a target to achieve zero greenhouse emissions, the first major bank anywhere in the world to commit to going carbon neutral, while in the past year, carbon dioxide emissions per employee fell by more than a quarter. The report also reveals that HSBC will achieve its aim of carbon neutrality by a combination of further energy saving, buying green electricity and offsetting remaining emissions by investing in allowance projects or carbon credit.
HSBC has also launched a package of measures to tackle climate change, amongst them a £650,000 'HSBC Partnership in Environmental Innovation' collaboration with Newcastle University and the University of East Anglia. The three-year project will research climate change - ‘the biggest single environmental challenge we face this century' according to HSBC Group Chairman Sir John Bond - with a view to developing new technologies to overcome it.
In the lending arena, HSBC is addressing the environmental and social issues arising from financing projects by implementing a set of voluntary guidelines - the Equator Principles - across its Project Finance operation. The report includes details of how HSBC is implementing the Principles, including numbers of transactions approved and declined.
Later this year, it will launch a Freshwater Sector Guideline, following on from last year's Forest Land and Forest Products Sector guideline - which is helping the bank work with its customers in the forestry sector to achieve higher standards of sustainability. In 2004, HSBC jumped 10 places in the banking sector of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.
The report also reveals that HSBC's efforts to increase gender diversity have led to a rise in the number of women in executive positions across HSBC from 39 per cent to 41 per cent during the course of the past year.
Corporate Social Responsibility 2004 signifies a new approach to CSR reporting for HSBC, with a clearer focus on the impact of its financial services businesses. Since last year's update - HSBC in Society - the bank has introduced new measurement standards, including the widely used Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), to better benchmark its progress in the field of CSR.
According to the new report, HSBC will continue its efforts during 2005 and beyond to make real its aim of becoming 'one of the world's leading brands for customer experience and corporate social responsibility'.
For Sir John Bond, a company's greatest social responsibility is to be successful. "However, we also know that sustainable success must go hand in hand with the highest standards of behaviour," he says.
"Upholding certain principles and values has served HSBC well throughout our history and stands us in good stead today. At the same time, public perceptions of a wide range of social, ethical and environmental issues are evolving constantly.
"In developing our own CSR policies and practices for the future, we recognise fully the importance of listening to customers, shareholders, colleagues and to the wider world."
