Carbon-neutral bank

Is your bank carbon-neutral?

Mine isn't but its heartening to know that there are financial institutions out there who are putting money where their mouth is in the struggle against global warming. After all, banks are voracious consumers of materials such as paper and technology whose production involves the creation of megatons of greenhouse gases.

On 6th March '07, the largest retail bank in the US, Bank of America, announced a US$20 billion environmental initiative to encourage a greening of the environment. Some of the money goes to an internal drive to reduce consumables consumption, the rest to consumer programs and commercial lending and investment banking for "green" projects over the next decade.

It sounds like the start of a big corporate social responsibility campaign (CSR) for BA. CSR has gained ground in recent years as a new public relations weapon and it has worked very well in communities that puts high value on social well-being. By developing an image of a caring instituion, it puts itself in the same mindspace of the population mindful of the same concern. In other words, its a bit of smart marketing.

I wonder when our local institutions will start following suit.