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Nedbank CEO Tom Boardman on Tuesday announced that after measuring and auditing the company’s carbon footprint, the banking giant had taken the decision to become ‘carbon neutral’.
Boardman said that the cost of becoming carbon neutral would likely be between R10-million and R20-million, but added that the benefits to the bank were numerous.
Environmental efficacy was proving to be beneficial, not only in attracting customers, but also in attracting skills to the company, as individuals made choices to align with more environmentally responsible organisations.
Already known as the ‘green bank’, Nedbank has implemented a number of initiatives aimed at lowering its carbon footprint, but realised that it would never be able to operate without emitting at least some greenhouse gases, and so, would buy certified emission reduction (CER) certificates on the carbon market, to offset its emissions.
Going forward, the bank would aim at ensuring that its CER certificates were purchased from emission reduction projects in Africa.
Nedbank was already involved in a number of initiatives to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, as well as cutting down on waste.
In the 2007/8 financial year, the bank implemented energy efficiency campaigns across its offices and branches nation wide, and realised electricity savings of six-million kWh in the year. About 71 500 kilolitres of water was saved, and the company used 40 t less paper in the year.
Nedbank further aimed to reduce electricity consumption by 3,7-million kWh in the current financial year, and this also had financial benefits for the company as less was spent on utilities.
The company was also forging ahead with the construction of the second phase of its corporate head office in Sandton, and was seeking to be one of the first Green Star SA rated offices in South Africa, through the Green Building Council of South Africa. Green Star is a system promoting environmentally sensitive methods of design and construction.
