HSBC has launched a five-year partnership scheme worth $100 million (£50.4 million) to combat climate change worldwide.

 

Building upon its first five-year alliance, “Investing in Nature”, which finished at the end of 2006 (see “A little more conservation”, 11 January), the HSBC Climate Partnership is aiming to be more ambitious. Forming a “coalition of the willing” of influential -businesses and conducting the largest-ever climate change field experiment of the world’s forests are among its main objectives.

 

HSBC employees will have the opportunity to get engaged involuntary environmental activities and field research projects.

 

The partnership, with the World Wide Fund for Nature, Earth-watch, the Climate Group and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, sees a split in funding of $35 million, $35 million, $18 million and $8 million respectively, with the remainder used for HSBC’s internal administration, People Management has learnt.

 

It will create 2,500 “climate champions” within the company who will undertake field research – co-ordinated by Earthwatch – looking at forests and assessing carbon impacts.

 

As well as those directly involved, all 312,000 of HSBC’s employees worldwide will have access to an online learning programme advising on how they can take action in their communities.

 

Tom Burstow, Earthwatch’s global head of the HSBC programme, told PM: “We want HSBC staff to understand what the issues are for them locally, in terms of both -climate change and how their communities are adapting to that.”

 

Nigel Pate, CSR manager at HSBC, added that whereas Investing in Nature had seen staff immersed in projects in exotic locations, the belief now was that solutions were needed locally.