Field science is not usually the province of bankers. Especially when it comes to accurately measuring the circumference of tree trunks. However, that's exactly what employees of international banking giant HSBC have been doing, according to the Washington Post.
The British bank partnered with the World Watch Institute and other environmental groups in 2007 to teach bank employees climate science. Their field study is the largest on the long-term influence of climate change on forests.
Despite the $100 million price tag of HSBC's climate change training , the goal is to save money. For example, the bank's new awareness of the weather forced them to create a program that automatically shuts down computers at night. That saved the bank's U.S. offices $300,000 in the last year.
Of course, banks have a very important role in determining our climate future: from the types of mortgages to the kind of projects they finance. HSBC, for its part, has pledged to work to not emit more than it saves on greenhouse gases through its activities, as well as to help create a set of "climate principles" for the banking sector.
Authors: Val
