We believe that a sustainable bank must be consistently profitable, but not solely concerned with making a profit.
Success for HSBC means providing our customers with the products and services they need and want, understanding and managing the impact we have on society and the environment, and investing in the future of our employees and the communities we serve. These measures help us to carry out our work in a way that is both commercially astute and ethically sound.
We recognise that we have responsibilities not only towards our customers, employees and shareholders, but also the countries and communities in which we operate
Douglas Flint,
HSBC Group Chairman
Key facts
Our annual contribution to community investment projects around the world is around:
USD100 million
Our Climate Change Centre of Excellence estimates that by 2020 the ‘climate business’ sector could exceed:
USD2.2 trillion
Putting sustainability into practice
We recognise that we have a responsibility to assess the environmental and social impacts of our business – and to manage these impacts. Here's how we do it:
We aim to reduce annual employee carbon emissions by one tonne, from 3.5 to 2.5 tonnes by 2020.
We're helping our customers by developing products and services that will support the transition to a low carbon economy.
By investing in educational partnerships, we’re able to commit time, money and resources to promote economic growth by helping young people reach their potential.
Our five-year programme with Earthwatch, WaterAid and WWF is focused on helping the 1.1 billion people who don’t have access to safe drinking water.
We anticipate and deal with potential social or environmental risks that may arise through our lending and investment.
Here are some examples of how we are working with our stakeholders to build a more sustainable future.
We want to be sure that the way we do business takes into account any impact on local communities and the environment.
We appointed PwC LLP to provide independent assurance on selected information in our Sustainability Report 2011 covering carbon emissions and related offsets, and our application of the Equator Principles.