Local bank leads by example
Not only is the 'world's local bank' investing US$100million in a global partnership to combat climate change, it has set up a department devoted to CSR and environmental sustainability.
Teresa Au, HSBC's head of corporate responsibility and sustainability for Asia-Pacific - which was established in February - said the Hong Kong-based department was seen by the bank as a model to be replicated in its worldwide operations.
'At the [international] board level we have a CSR committee set up with a great deal of passion being shown by the leadership,' Ms Au said.
'I think the community expects more from companies, especially larger ones like us. We've adopted a comprehensive strategy, and we hope it's a road map to influence larger firms and governments.'
HSBC has established links with environmental NGOs worldwide to help implement sustainable development. Strategies are being drawn up based on the principle of 'responsible lending' by which the bank aims to encourage a company it deals with to adopt a socially responsible attitude towards the environment. Lending guidelines based on sustainability cover mining, the chemical industry, forestry and water use. 'We are willing to sacrifice our business if we find customers are unable to meet with international environmental standards,' said Ms Au, adding that external auditors were used in an advisory role on environmental issues.
The bank's mission extends to rainforests in Brazil, protecting the Yangtze ecosystem in China, and closer to home with social projects such as the Hong Kong Family Welfare Society's Loving Bridge scheme which offers language classes to help ethnic minority families integrate into society.
HSBC's US$100 million donation to four NGOs - the Climate Group, Earthwatch Institute, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the WWF - is part of a five-year partnership which the bank hopes will encourage its employees to become part of a 'green taskforce'.
Ms Au said the bank wanted to show leadership by offering 'corporate mentorship' so that cities and local organisations could achieve sustainability. She said such strategies showed how CSR was developing with companies coming to realise it was not merely about well-publicised donations to worthy causes.
But the global bank has not forgotten how to think locally when it comes to CSR. To add to its other efforts in Hong Kong, it recently set up a 'corporate partnership' with 7-Eleven, whereby customers can donate to a choice of 10 charities at a network of 800 stores.
