TD Bank's New Green Framework
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06. 8.07
Generally people do not feel warm and fuzzy about banks. A number of them, like Wachovia, HSBC, Bank of America and Wells Fargo have announced green measures; Now Canada's TD Bank (owns Ameritrade, Waterhouse and Banknorth in the States) has released its "Environmental Management Framework." This TD customer feels warm and fuzzy.
TD is concentrating on four areas: Forest diversity, Climate change, Aboriginal peoples and TD's operational footprint. Of particular interest in a country where forestry and resource extraction are so important (and big borrowers) TD:
"will not provide credit, underwriting, or advisory services for operations that are in World Heritage Sites or for these that significantly convert or degrade critical natural habitats"
-"will not knowingly provide financing to clients that collude with, or purchase timber from illegal logging operations. With clients that source wood products from countries considered to be of high risk for illegal logging, we will discuss the management systems they have in place to assure the legal origins of their materials."
-"will only finance forestry operations for clients who have obtained or are on a pathway to obtaining the Forest Stewardship Council (“FSC”) certification, unless a comparable assessment process underpins a conservation plan"
That is pretty strong stuff for a country known as a hewer of wood and bearer of water. Plans for climate change are a bit sketchier and waffly (can't offend the oil and gas industry in this country) , and the operational plans for the bank are not surprising, the usual stuff to reduce footprints and waste; they could pick up a bit of Wachovia's branch design initiatives here. Otherwise, strong stuff from the usually conservative Canadian banking industry. ::TD Bank and ::Environmental Management Framework PDF
photo: Toronto Dominion Centre,Mies van der Rohe, collection CCA
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Five Ways To Green Your Mortgage
- Sustainability’s Success
- Top 7 Green Categories of 7 Green Lists of 7 Green Things
- Sony's Green Glove is Great...But Catchy
eco-marketing 101. pure and simple. totally meaningless environmentally. "illegal logging operations", "review mitigation plans" "engage our clients" etc. are all a complete joke. is TD going to install some eco-czar with a red button to cancel projects? good luck. and based on what criteria? legal standards themselves are laughably low (in Canada and I presume non-existant in places like Honduras) much less my belief that TD will sheriff them faithfully beyond the purview of public scrutiny. more often than not mining and logging operations are assigned mitigation plans that are totally bogus and not necessarily enforced anyway. and thats from the government.
anyone who thinks voluntary corporate social responsibility is going to save the world is naively optimistic.
Eco Marketing 101 is crazy. The banks represent a lot of power and any restrictions are better than none. Good on you TD!