Protecting the environment

Strategy and management

Our vision is to enhance sustainable shareholder value by leading the way on the environment in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Achieving this ambition requires leadership from the top and action throughout the Bank.

Standard Chartered has had a formal environment policy in place since 1998, and in 2008, the Group Environment Committee revised our strategy to achieve a step-change in performance.

This strategy involves our businesses and support functions and aligns with our business goals. Action plans were built around the strategy’s three pillars:

• Operational impacts – minimising our use of resources and carbon dioxide emissions, focusing on energy consumption in buildings, paper use and emissions from air travel. Our new strategy introduced tough targets for each of these. On a full-time employee (FTE) basis, by 2011, we aim to reduce carbon emissions from air travel to 0.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide (t CO₂e) and decrease paper consumption to 25kg. These targets represent a reduction from 2008 levels of 35 per cent for travel and 50 per cent for paper. We will reduce energy use in our buildings by a further 10 per cent kWh/m2 by 2011. This is part of our long-term commitment to significantly reduce energy use in owned and leased properties. Our targets take into account differential energy needs in tropical and temperate climates, as well as the differential influence we have on the pace of change in our owned and our leased buildings.
• Sustainable finance – integrating climate and environmental risk as well as social and governance issues into our lending criteria, and providing the products and services that will support the shift to low-carbon economies.
• Stakeholder engagement – addressing environmental issues that are relevant and meaningful in the markets where we operate. We provide tools and encouragement for employees to move from awareness to action in their work and private lives. Externally, we work with customers, regulators, communities, investors, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and others to stimulate action by creating an awareness of what must be done to protect the environment.

The Group Environment Committee, chaired by Dr Tim Miller, director, people, property and assurance, leads the development and implementation of our environment strategy. Senior executives from our businesses, functions and markets are also represented. The committee is supported by a range of working groups, which are responsible for implementing decisions. Our Country Environment Committees then drive action in our markets.