Embedding sustainability into business: the HSBC Climate Change Partnership

Through the partnership, HSBC is working with four NGOs – Earthwatch, WWF, The Climate Group, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute – to address the impact of climate change on people, rivers, cities and forests worldwide. 

Earthwatch’s participatory scientific field research model – whereby non-scientists work with scientists to collect data needed to address critical environmental challenges – provides an ideal platform for transformative learning on sustainability issues. Through Earthwatch, HSBC has fostered the development of a scientific research programme that is making a significant contribution to global understanding of how the world’s degraded forest ecosystems are responding to climate change. The partnership represents HSBC’s substantial investment in its own people and develops HSBC employees to become sustainability leaders who help to implement change in the business environment.

The programme was designed to meet employees at their level of interest or ability to participate. A variety of resources have been developed by Earthwatch to build understanding, including an online learning programme on climate change. To date 45,000 HSBC employees have volunteered on local environmental projects in their communities to gain practical knowledge of tackling climate change locally. 

Climate Champion programme
The pinnacle of the programme is the 'Climate Champion' programme which has two objectives: to establish how forests are responding to climate change; and to engage 2,200 HSBC employees in a tailored, experiential learning programme that builds knowledge and professional skills. After volunteering at one of five Regional Climate Centres located near HSBC employment hubs, Climate Champions apply their experience to create value for HSBC, translating the significant investment in employee engagement into tangible benefits for the bank. 

In one such example of a business project, a Climate Champion from Hong Kong created an e-advice service for HSBC Corporate Medical insurance customers that saved US$727,980 and 935,081 sheets of paper in 2010.

Evaluation
Earthwatch and HSBC were keen to have internal evaluation and feedback validated by an objective external expert. Ashridge Business School was commissioned to conduct an extensive study that included more than 2,200 online surveys and 95 interviews covering Climate Champions, local volunteering participants, online participants, Climate Champions’ line managers, and senior managers not involved in the programme. The stated aim at the beginning of the programme to create a global 'green taskforce’ of employees was resoundingly met with 96 per cent of Climate Champions agreeing that the programme increased their knowledge of and 92 per cent their commitment to taking action on climate change. A further 79 per cent said their participation in the programme has made them more strongly committed to HSBC as an organisation.

Impacts
HSBC’s Bill Thomas, had no intention of becoming a sustainability leader and was, in fact, a self-confessed climate sceptic before he took part in the Climate Champion programme in 2007. The two week experience led to a u-turn in his career. He is now responsible for sustainability across HSBC’s Technical Services, the operational function covering a third of HSBC’s global workforce, which directly controls the carbon footprint of one of the largest banks in the world.

The Climate Champion programme, run by Earthwatch as part of the HSBC Climate Partnership, was the foundation on which the ambitious Sustainability Leadership Programme (SLP) was built. The SLP is a six-day programme specifically designed to engage senior business leaders in climate change and sustainability issues leading to decisions and actions within the business that make HSBC more sustainable.

Bill describes the Climate Champion programme as training the 'foot soldiers’ and the Sustainability Leadership Programme training the 'generals’. HSBC looks to those who participate in the SLP to engage the senior level of the organisations in sustainability issues, and to support senior management-level efforts to drive significant change in the business.

In 2011, Bill hopes that over 160 of HSBC’s most senior managers, responsible for vast budgets and workforces, will participate in the programme. His reasons are clear. "If senior management aren’t on board, you can only go so far. Bottom-up is also important, but big achievements need top level support."

Bill insists he is far from the only executive to have experienced such a conversion, and the result is embedding sustainability thinking among the bank’s key decision-makers.

Good business

"Climate change is undoubtedly an important issue" he adds, "but from a business point of view sustainability is about resources and how to use them more efficiently. It’s not about tree-hugging: it’s about good business. Talk about trees and the answer is always: so what? Mention that we can save £10 million by simply turning off the lights, computers, or cutting down on paper and suddenly they are interested."

For example, the bank has recently revealed it has successfully incorporated sustainability indicators into employee assessments, providing them with a clear incentive to help the business cut water and energy use, reduce waste and trim its carbon footprint, whilst also providing a basis for sustainability bonuses. Linking bonuses to a system monitoring 16 standards is one method that has enabled Bill to take significant steps towards meeting four-year environmental targets across the department’s portfolio of 8,000 buildings, corporate real estate and data centres.

As the global HSBC Climate Partnership draws to a close at the end of this year, Bill is positive about its impact and the future, but there are new challenges on the horizon. Bill is determined to remain ahead of the game and lead by example because the challenges that they face are not unique to HSBC. 

For more information about the HSBC climate partnership visit www.earthwatch.org/hcp.