"Switching on to renewables", 5 Jan 2015

HSBC aims to source a quarter of the energy used to power its buildings around the world from renewable sources by 2020…It is a challenging goal but the bank has already signed four agreements with renewable energy providers in the UK and India, which together will generate the equivalent of 9 per cent of HSBC’s global energy needs. The long-term agreements represent an important step towards the bank’s wider goal of cutting annual carbon emissions globally from 3.5 tonnes per employee in 2011 to 2.5 tonnes by 2020…By signing these long-term agreements, rather than buying renewable energy from existing sources, HSBC is supporting developers to build new and additional wind and solar farms. As well as using more renewable sources, HSBC is aiming to use less energy…by improving the energy efficiency of its buildings. This is part of the bank’s broader goal to manage the impact of its operations on the environment.