IBOS Sustainability Report

There are three parts to the group reporting:

• Firstly reporting on the compliance of the previous year’s action plan. As this is the first year of the IBOS sustainability report this stage is not yet possible.
• The second is the disclosure of the CO2 offset from IBOS related business travel. This is for all business trips taken by IBOS staff and all trips taken by IBOS representatives from the member banks.
• The third is the disclosure of the member banks’ efforts in sustainable finance which is fundamental to a sustainable future.

Carbon Offsetting

This is the process of offsetting the carbon produced by travel through paying for a renewable energy or carbon free project. There are a large number of organisations available for those who wish to do this. However it should only be used when all other alternatives have been explored. Part of the 2009 sustainability report looked into different ways of reducing business travel. As a result there are still outstanding meetings that can only take place face-to-face.

After researching a number of carbon offset companies it has been decided that the most appropriate one to use would be the World Land Trust which focuses on reforestation of areas in South America. This organization was chosen for a number of reasons.

• It is a registered charity ensuring that a greater proportion of its income goes to projects and its accounts are presented in greater detail in their literature.
• They focus on reconstituting forest areas which increases bio-diversity as well as providing a valuable carbon sink.
• The projects work to remove CO2 rather than reduce the future output of CO2.
• At £15/tonne it is one of the more expensive organizations.
• Trips can be organised to visit the areas being funded.

The offset will be compiled through the year and paid once annually.

The table below shows the Q4 2009 meeting offset total. The 2010 total will be compiled through the year and the offset will be purchased once a year and the certificate can be viewed here.

From this an annual estimate of CO2 produced can be calculated.

This money is paid through the IBOS Association account which is funded by the member’s annual fees. The World Land Trust website provides a list of projects that are sponsored and includes details of their current development.

Member Bank Disclosure

As part of the 2009 sustainability report several recommendations were made to help improve the association and help with its expansion plans.

This has led to the acceptance of a group-wide stance on environmental issues. As such membership of the Equator Principles and the UN Environment Protection Finance Initiative has been suggested for the group.

Membership of these organizations is irrelevant if there is no disclosure to go with it. The following table shows the member banks’ commitment to the EP by showing the projects they have financed that have gone through this system. The bank titles also link to their individual Corporate Social Responsibility reports or equivalent that have Environmental and Sustainable sections that adhere to the UNEPFI requirements.

EP Projects Funded by Category

Data on which category the projects fell into was unavailable.

• Category A – Projects with potential significant adverse social or environmental impacts that are diverse, irreversible or unprecedented;
• Category B – Projects with potential limited adverse social or environmental impacts that are few in number, generally site-specific, largely reversible and readily addressed through mitigation measures; and
• Category C – Projects with minimal or no social or environmental impacts.

(Note – links to WLT website and Member Banks CSR reports via bank names in the table above)