Why be green?
The responsibility for sustaining our world as a healthy environment for future generations rests with us all. Indeed, the importance of working together, globally and locally, to address a crisis that is revealing itself to be essentially about our survival on planet earth, can not be underestimated. Collectively there is a growing recognition that this global crisis, in particular climate change, is not something happening to someone else in some other part of the world, but that it is happening to all of us, at the same time. At the same time, however, the conclusions of the recently published IPPC report, indicate that the poor will be the worse affected by droughts, water shortages, floods and storms, and that the enormity of the impacts of climate change will threaten to undermine the development of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The IDB recognizes that to effectively address these and other sustainability concerns, it must go beyond managing the environmental and social impacts of its projects and help clients and communities to identify opportunities to enhance the environmental and social value of investments. To that end over the past two years, we have made a series of commitments to integrate sustainability as a core value and point of reference for its operational and corporate structure. This includes the new environmental safeguards and compliance policy and the operational policy on indigenous peoples, as well as the launch of two key initiatives: The Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Initiative (SECCI) and Opportunities for the Majority. Furthermore, the IDB has continued to work together with the Blue Ribbon Panel on Environment to look at how sustainability concerns are embedded into Bank’s the operational structure, particularly during the 2007 realignment process.
At the same time, the importance of taking action to minimize environmental impacts and enhance sustainability, not only through the Banks operational investments and mandate with its countries, but also in the every day lives of its stakeholders, form an essential component of the Bank’s commitment to sustainability. In the words of President Moreno, when addressing staff on Earthday 2007, “after all, if we are not part of the solution we are part of the problem”.
The Bank’s commitment to environmental and social sustainability includes an effort to minimize the environmental impact of its physical facilities and daily operations, and maximize the potential of its employees and neighboring communities. In 2006, the Bank made progress in measuring its consumption and waste patterns—a prerequisite for establishing and meeting targets to improve these patterns. With the establishment of a Greening the Bank Task Force, IDB is now poised to make more rapid and systematic changes to reduce its corporate footprint at its Washington DC headquarters and its 26 country offices, and 2 extra-regional offices.
The IDB recognizes that a commitment to greening its operations at the home front improves employee wellness and productivity, enhances competitivity, strengthens its bottom line through operating efficiencies and brings recognition as an environmental leader.
The IDB also understands that greening depends on each and every one of its staff and consultants. There are many ways that each person can reduce their environmental impact by making small changes in their day-to-day work routine. As an ongoing party of the IDB commitment to sustainability, in the Region the Bank serves and at home in its headquarters and country offices, the Greening the Bank task force will be working together with its internal and external stakeholders, listening to ideas about what the Bank can do, and what they can do to become more environmentally responsible.
A global greening context
Over the past decade there has been a strong tendency in developed countries, and to a certain extent in recent years in some developing countries in Latin America, for the private sector to engage in responsible environmental and social practices.
Commercial banks have in particular been a major player in this corporate social and environmental responsibility (CSR) (see note 1) trend, which also includes publicizing issues related to sustainability within their business practices. Increasingly as part of this trend, large organizations are being asked to take responsibility for their ecological impact or the “footprint” of their activities and report publicly on these efforts, including the impact of carbon and other emissions on climate change.
As a result, a range of opportunities are becoming more readily available for organizations such as the IDB to green their facilities, including the voluntary offset of carbon emissions. At the same time, largely stemming from the reporting initiatives of private sector banks, multilateral development institutions have begun to follow suit by compiling more comprehensive sustainability reports on their activities, building upon already existing practices of annually reporting on their environmental and social track records, both at the operational level but also at the corporate level, reporting on advances made in greening (see note 2) their facilities.
Similarly, large institutional purchasers have recognized the environmental impact of their purchasing decisions. They are recognizing that purchasing decisions impact a wider variety of environmental concerns. Everything from climate change to toxins in the environment can be linked to purchasing decisions. As a result, growing numbers of organizations are expanding their “buy recycled” policies and practices to incorporate a wider variety of environmental considerations such as buying less hazardous cleaning products, energy- and water-efficient products, recycled goods, and electricity from less polluting sources.
Notes
1. Corporate social responsibility” broadly refers to the environmental and social practices of an organization, both in their business line and in their own office facilities, with a view to producing an overall positive impact on the environment and in the communities in which it operates. These may include, but are not limited to: implementing a recycling program, cutting greenhouse gas emissions, the use of renewable energy, educating staff on environmental and social issues and volunteer programs.
2. More specifically “Greening” refers to the environmental programs that an organization undertakes in order to become a more environmentally responsible organization, in particular in its own offices.
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