Environment

• Our policies
• Climate change
• Operational impact
• Engagement
• Our performance

Climate change

Climate change is widely recognised as the greatest environmental challenge facing the world today. Scientists predict that the effects of rising temperatures will be felt globally, affecting developing countries first and hardest.

As a bank and a part of the communities in which we operate, we're aware that climate change has significant economic, social and environmental consequences. That's why it is one of the main driving forces behind our commitment to protecting the environment.

Steered by our Environment Committee, we have set out four key areas for action in the coming years:

• To reduce our operational impact.
• To consider environmental issues and climate change in all our lending decisions.
• To develop and adapt new and existing products and services to support a shift towards a low carbon, low pollution, economy.
• To engage our employees and other stakeholders so that they understand the importance of their actions and what they can do to reduce their impact.

Standard Chartered is also involved in several global initiatives to address climate change:

• We're a member of the Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change, working in partnership with Governments to support progressive climate change regulation. We signed the CLG led Bali Communique on Climate Change calling for an international and legally binding United Nations agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which will provide businesses with the certainty needed to scale up global investment in low-carbon technologies.
• We're also a member, and chair, of the United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative working group on climate change and a signatory to the UNEP FI Declaration on Climate Change in June 2007.
• We took part in the Forge V Climate Change project in 2007 to identify sector best practice approaches to integrating climate change into financial institutions' operations, including employee engagement.
• In 2002 we signed up to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a global initiative which asks organisations to disclose information on greenhouse gas emissions and their position on, and approach to managing, climate change. In 2007 we were included in the Climate Disclosure Leadership Index.

• Find out more about our operational impact
• Find out more about our approach to lending
• Find out more about our new products and services
• Find out more about how we're engaging our stakeholders