SBI becomes carbon disclosure project signatory

State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, today became a signatory investor in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a collaboration of over 550 global institutional investors with assets under management of $71 trillion.

CDP is an independent not-for-profit organisation, holding the largest database of primary corporate climate change information in the world. Over 3,000 organsations across the world’s largest economies measure and disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and climate change strategies through CDP. These disclosures aid them in setting reduction targets and make performance improvements.

SBI, on its part, has been undertaking several environmentally and socially sustainable initiatives through its 14,000 plus branches spread across the length and breadth of the country. The bank also enunciated a ‘Green Banking Policy’, as early as in 2007.

“Our bank was the first in the entire banking, insurance and financial services sector to have conceptualised and owned wind farms for generation of green power to part substitute consumption of thermal power by its offices in India and we have already launched a project to measure and manage organization level foot print to achieve carbon neutrality."

On SBI becoming a signatory of CDP, Paul Simpson, CEO of CDP said,  “We are delighted to welcome the financial powerhouse, SBI, as a signatory. As much of the world’s economic recovery will now come from rapid growth in emerging economies like India, it was crucial for us to have a strong partner like the SBI to promote the truly global fight for sustainable development."

"We are pleased that SBI  has become a signatory, as this conveys a strong message to the Indian finance sector and the strategic role it can play in promoting a sustainable future," said Ravi Singh, Secretary General and CEO of WWF-India.

"Being a major bank in the country, SBI stands to become a great catalyst in encouraging the adoption of sustainable strategies by both - businesses and the financial sector. We congratulate SBI on becoming a signatory to CDP; this is a very important milestone for the initiative in India” said Seema Arora, Principal Counsellor & Head of CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development.

Each year, on behalf of signatory investors, the CDP collects climate change and carbon emissions data from over 5,000 large companies globally, which include the top 200 companies in India listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Over 550 institutional investors - ranging from pension fundsand insurance companies like Allianz and Swiss Re to blue chip banks and asset managers such as Black Rock, HSBC, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley - are signatories to the CDP.

In India, investors such as HDFC Bank, IDBI, IDFC, Reliance Capital, Tata Capital, IndusInd Bank and Yes Bank have also become signatories. CDP sends an annual letter and questionnaire on behalf of these financial institutions to the top 200 Indian companies by market capitalization. In 2010, 51 Indian companies responded to the questionnaire.

In the disclosure, Indian companies reported on their carbon emissions data, reduction targets, associated risks and opportunities and increasing board level managerial resources in spearheading the execution of climate change strategies within their organisations.