RBS and the environment
Above: Ben Morris took advantage of our YourWorld bike-to-work scheme that allows employees to make considerable savings on the cost of a cycle. He also uses YourWorld carbon offsets and tax free bus season tickets.
Below: In June we launched the YourWorld employee website. There is a carbon calculator, energy efficiency tips and discounted offers on products which reduce their carbon footprint.
We recognise the threats posed by climate change and endeavour to make a difference where we can. That involves reducing the Group’s carbon footprint and wider environmental impacts, helping our employees as they change their behaviour and lending responsibly to the highest internationally-agreed standards. In 2007 we elevated the priority given to the environment and brought greater coherence to our activities with the establishment of the Group Environment Programme.
Our footprint
Financial services is an industry with a low carbon footprint and RBS has one of the lowest among UK banks. We are committed to reducing further the carbon intensity of our operations and the initiatives we have taken should reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by as much as one-fifth by 2011. We will achieve that in a number of ways. Since October 2007, all of our electricity in the UK and Ireland has come from renewable sources. Phase one of our £55 million property investment programme is nearing completion and will cut our annual carbon dioxide emissions by 97,000 tonnes. We are piloting energy efficient technologies at our ‘Building for the Future’ sites in Blackpool and Rotherham in England. Last year the Group recycled 21,000 tonnes of paper and the introduction of e-statements in November will reduce significantly the 15 million statements we send through the post each month.
Our employees
Our employees have told us that they take seriously their personal impact on the environment and strive to minimise it where they can. We took a major step to helping them with the launch of ‘Your World’. Through this web-based service, employees in the UK, Ireland and the US can calculate their carbon footprint, obtain advice about how to reduce it and buy competitively-priced energy and transport services that will also help them to reduce their emissions.
Our lending
RBS is one of the ten initial adopters of the Equator Principles, a benchmark for managing the social and environmental impact of financing projects. We lend only to projects which satisfy these exacting standards. Our regard for the environment also makes good business sense and the Group is among the largest funders of renewable energy projects in the world.
Recognition
Our efforts in managing the Group’s environmental impact have been recognised by others. The ratings agency Innovest upgraded us to AAA for managing social and environmental risks and opportunities, and we were again included in the Dow Jones and FTSE4GOOD sustainability indices. RBS was included in the Carbon Disclosure Project’s Climate Disclosure Leadership Index and we were one of only four banks globally to receive a score of 95% or higher. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, we were included among the world’s 100 most sustainable companies for the first time.
© 2008