30 March 2005
Sir John Bond, HSBC Group Chairman, has called for global action to tackle climate change at the launch of an HSBC-sponsored photographic exhibition showing the true extent of the problem.
Sir John made a keynote speech at the UK launch of the NorthSouthEastWest exhibition, a collection of photographs showing the impact of climate change on the world’s population, and the solutions that have been introduced across the world to deal with it.
HSBC has also sponsored a book to accompany the exhibition that’s designed to influence worldwide government policies on climate change and public attitudes to the problem.
"Climate change is a global problem and it therefore requires global solutions," Sir John said.
"Governments, business, NGOs and individuals all need to work together if we are to realise our ambitions for a low carbon future."
In December 2004, HSBC set a benchmark for the financial services community, becoming the first major bank to commit to going carbon neutral in its operations worldwide.
Since then, it has announced a package of measures designed to tackle climate change, a pilot programme to help UK schools to become energy-efficient, and an upgrade to its air conditioning system in Hong Kong that will produce significant cost and energy savings over the next few years.
NorthSouthEastWest is a joint venture between The British Council and The Climate Group, of which HSBC became a member in 2004. The exhibition will be at the Science Museum in London until May 2005, returning to the capital later in the summer to coincide with a G8 meeting hosted by the British Government that is expected to focus on climate change.
Related links
HSBC world's first major bank to go carbon neutral
Downloads
Read Sir John Bond's speech
(1 page pdf 15K)
