RBS 2007 Annual Report Download - page 28

RBS Group • Annual Report and Accounts 2007
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Corporate Responsibility continued
Corporate Responsibility
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.
Barbara Norris is one of the
6,000 members of staff who have
delivered MoneySense lessons to
1,500 schools across the UK. Here
she is helping pupils at Ramsey
School Essex.
Sharon Johnson who has
worked for RBS since leaving
school 17 years ago, took a two
month sabbatical to work at the
Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary
in Borneo.