|
RBC continues to take a leading industry role by implementing
sound environmental management practices and promoting
sustainable development.
Commitment to the environment
RBC’s Environmental Policy, developed in 1990, forms the framework
for all our environmental management programs and applies to loans, investment
and internal operating activities. RBC has a permanent committee of senior
executives that reviews and recommends environmental policies for lending,
asset management and management of RBC’s operations. Environmental
risk management policies are integral to our lending process. For example,
RBC requires third-party environmental site assessments for many loan,
mortgage and investment transactions. This year, RBC was the first Canadian
bank to adopt the Equator Principles, a voluntary set of guidelines to
manage social and environmental issues related to large-scale project
financing in developing countries. RBC will provide loans only to those
projects that can demonstrate to our satisfaction that key social and
environmental issues have been addressed in accordance with our policies
and processes.
Tracking our progress
At RBC our goal is to minimize our
ecological footprint and to that end we are diligent in tracking our
progress.
We have developed a number of internal programs to reduce the environmental
impact of our operations, buildings
and purchases. Since 2001, we have been tracking our positive progress
on key environmental indicators. In 2003, RBC purchased 600 megawatt-hours
(MWh)
of Green Power from BC Hydro, the equivalent to removing 60 cars from
the road per year, and renewed its contract with Ontario Power Generation
to
purchase an additional 1,000 MWh of Green Power for our facilities
in Ontario. By purchasing Green Power in Ontario and British Columbia,
RBC will reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by
1,106 tonnes and smog-forming gases
by 4.7 tonnes this year.
For more information, visit
rbc.com/environment
Recognition for leadership
In 2002, RBC responded to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) questionnaire,
the largest survey of its kind to assess and provide hard data on companies’ exposure
to climate change impacts, including extreme weather events and the
regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. RBC was lauded by the CDP as
having “superior awareness of climate change risks and opportunities.”
For the second consecutive year, RBC was recognized by Corporate Knights
in 2003 as the most environmentally responsible bank or trust company
in Canada, based on resource use and disposal,
environmental risk management and
corporate governance. This survey of the 100 largest companies on the
Toronto Stock Exchange is based on an analysis
by EthicScan Canada, Innovest Strategic Value Advisors and the Sustainable
Investment Group. Support
for environmental education
 |
