HSBC to Donate $100M to Climate Change Fight
A five-year partnership between Europe's largest bank and four of the world's biggest environmental groups will create a 'green task force' working on a variety of initiatives aimed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and increase environmental awareness.
HSBC, Europe's largest bank, has waded into the climate change fight in a big way with today's announcement that it will donate $100 million over the next five years to four environmental groups working on a range of climate issues.
Together with the Climate Group, Earthwatch Institute, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the World Wildlife Foundation, HSBC's new Climate Partnership will help some of the world's biggest cities and most important rivers respond to climate change, as well as fund research and recruit environmental leaders worldwide.
Speaking at the London press conference announcement, Sir David Attenborough, one of the world's best known broadcasters and a pioneer of the nature documentary, said, "As we increase the production of greenhouse gases, we face the very real prospect of causing irreversible damage to the Earth's more fragile eco-systems. We are not powerless if we act now, collectively and decisively. We can significantly reduce the causes of climate change and greatly improve the chances of safeguarding for future generations the spectacular diversity of life on Earth."
"By working with four of the world's most respected environmental organizations and creating a 'green taskforce' of thousands of HSBC employees worldwide, we believe we can tackle the causes and impacts of climate change," said Paul Lawrence, CEO of HSBC USA. "Over the next five years HSBC will make responding to climate change central to our business operations and at the heart of the way we work with our clients across the world."
Among the projects to be undertaken by the HSBC Climate Partnership are: helping some of the world's great cities -- Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, New York and Shanghai - respond to the challenge of climate change; creating 'climate champions' worldwide who will undertake field research and bring back valuable knowledge and experience to their communities; conduct the largest-ever field experiment on the world's forests to measure carbon and the effects of climate change; and working to protect some of the world's major rivers -- including the Amazon, Ganges, Thames, and Yangtze -- from the impacts on climate change, benefiting the 450 million people who rely on them.
HSBC's $100 million partnership, which the company said includes the largest donations to each of these charities as well as the largest donation ever made by a British company, will help to deliver increased capacity, help the charities to expand across new countries and research sites, and increase their access to more people.
Christopher Walker, U.S. Director of The Climate Group said, "Climate change is an increasingly urban issue. High summer temperatures, storms and rising sea levels will have more extreme impacts on city life. We have a short period of time left to take action. Many of the solutions lie in cities - concentrations of capital, decision makers, opinion formers and population. Through the HSBC Climate Partnership we will accelerate our program in five world cities, engaging the most influential businesses and city governments to lead a 'coalition of the willing' against global warming."
"Any decisions regarding the impacts of climate change need to be based on two things," said Edward Wilson, the U.S. CEO of the Earthwatch Institute. "First, a lasting solution has to involve objective science. Second, any solution must engage people and communities in order to promote true understanding and action. This partnership serves as a great example of how you create the change needed for a more sustainable future."
The HSBC Climate Partnership follows on the heels of "Investing in Nature," the Group's previous $50 million, five-year partnership which concluded in 2006. That program led to a partnership with Botanical Gardens Conservation International, Earthwatch, and WWF, saving more than 12,000 plant species from extinction, training 200 scientists, sending 2,000 HSBC employees on conservation research projects worldwide, and protecting and better managing three of the world's largest rivers -- including part of the Yangtze River in China -- benefiting some 50 million people.
Together with the Climate Group, Earthwatch Institute, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the World Wildlife Foundation, HSBC's new Climate Partnership will help some of the world's biggest cities and most important rivers respond to climate change, as well as fund research and recruit environmental leaders worldwide.
Speaking at the London press conference announcement, Sir David Attenborough, one of the world's best known broadcasters and a pioneer of the nature documentary, said, "As we increase the production of greenhouse gases, we face the very real prospect of causing irreversible damage to the Earth's more fragile eco-systems. We are not powerless if we act now, collectively and decisively. We can significantly reduce the causes of climate change and greatly improve the chances of safeguarding for future generations the spectacular diversity of life on Earth."
"By working with four of the world's most respected environmental organizations and creating a 'green taskforce' of thousands of HSBC employees worldwide, we believe we can tackle the causes and impacts of climate change," said Paul Lawrence, CEO of HSBC USA. "Over the next five years HSBC will make responding to climate change central to our business operations and at the heart of the way we work with our clients across the world."
Among the projects to be undertaken by the HSBC Climate Partnership are: helping some of the world's great cities -- Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, New York and Shanghai - respond to the challenge of climate change; creating 'climate champions' worldwide who will undertake field research and bring back valuable knowledge and experience to their communities; conduct the largest-ever field experiment on the world's forests to measure carbon and the effects of climate change; and working to protect some of the world's major rivers -- including the Amazon, Ganges, Thames, and Yangtze -- from the impacts on climate change, benefiting the 450 million people who rely on them.
HSBC's $100 million partnership, which the company said includes the largest donations to each of these charities as well as the largest donation ever made by a British company, will help to deliver increased capacity, help the charities to expand across new countries and research sites, and increase their access to more people.
Christopher Walker, U.S. Director of The Climate Group said, "Climate change is an increasingly urban issue. High summer temperatures, storms and rising sea levels will have more extreme impacts on city life. We have a short period of time left to take action. Many of the solutions lie in cities - concentrations of capital, decision makers, opinion formers and population. Through the HSBC Climate Partnership we will accelerate our program in five world cities, engaging the most influential businesses and city governments to lead a 'coalition of the willing' against global warming."
"Any decisions regarding the impacts of climate change need to be based on two things," said Edward Wilson, the U.S. CEO of the Earthwatch Institute. "First, a lasting solution has to involve objective science. Second, any solution must engage people and communities in order to promote true understanding and action. This partnership serves as a great example of how you create the change needed for a more sustainable future."
The HSBC Climate Partnership follows on the heels of "Investing in Nature," the Group's previous $50 million, five-year partnership which concluded in 2006. That program led to a partnership with Botanical Gardens Conservation International, Earthwatch, and WWF, saving more than 12,000 plant species from extinction, training 200 scientists, sending 2,000 HSBC employees on conservation research projects worldwide, and protecting and better managing three of the world's largest rivers -- including part of the Yangtze River in China -- benefiting some 50 million people.
