Environment

View Citi Foundation grants

Across the Organisation

Citi Asia Pacific promotes environmental sustainability in many different ways:

Reducing the environmental footprint of our buildings and operations

Screening transactions according to our rigorous Environmental and Social Risk Management Policy

Financing and investing in companies that are pursuing alternative energies

Being a key intermediary in carbon emissions trading

Developing environmentallyoriented products and services for our customers

Encouraging our employees to support environmental initiatives in the workplace, at home and in the community

Supporting sustainable enterprise development with Citi Foundation grants

US$50 Billion Initiative

In 2007, Citi announced an unprecedented 10-year, US$50 billion global initiative to combat climate change.

By the end of 2008, we had tracked over US$17.7 billion, of which Asia Pacific contributed nearly US$600 million.

The transactions that were counted in Asia Pacific mainly consisted of investments in, or financing for biofuels, solar energy, and carbon trading, as well as reductions in the greenhouse gas emissions from our buildings and operations.

Citi has already tracked over US$17.7 billion towards its unprecedented 10-year, US$50 billion global initiative to combat climate change

Environmental Performance Highlights

Environmental Footprint

Citi Asia Pacific occupies over 13.6 million square feet of office/branch space in more than 1,000 locations. We are continually working to reduce our environmental footprint through improved management of our real estate, procurement, and energy use.

Key environmental footprint initiatives in 2008 included an energy-reduction programme that involved installing automatic lighting, air-conditioning controls and energy-saving lights; expanding our paperless processes; encouraging employees to turn off lights and PC monitors when not in use; and recycling 3,307 U.S. tons of waste – a 317% increase over 2007.

Citi’s new building in Changi Business Park in Singapore, built during 2008, has been awarded Platinum Green Mark Certification, the highest accolade in Singapore for environmental sustainability.

According to available data, in 2008, Citi was the first company in Asia Pacific to achieve Leadership in Energy Design and Environmental Design – Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI) Gold certification for a new data centre (in Singapore), and the first in Hong Kong to achieve LEED-CI Gold certification for its One Island East offices. Recently, Citi was also awarded Platinum Green Mark Certification for its new building in Changi Business Park, Singapore.

ESRM Policy

Our globally-applied Environmental and Social Risk Management (ESRM) Policy is a framework that refers to the Equator Principles and the IFC Performance Standards, and helps our bankers in Asia Pacific to evaluate complex and challenging transactions across dozens of industries.

In 2008, a total of 91 Asia Pacific transactions (such as project finance, project finance advisories, corporate and government loans, and debt and equity underwriting) received ESRM reviews. Of these, 12 were Category A transactions requiring an ESRM Approver in Asia Pacific to review and approve the transaction in consultation with the ESRM Director in New York.

As part of ongoing ESRM training for our bankers, 26 Citi India employees and 19 Citi China employees received inperson training in 2008.

In addition, Citi shared best practices at a large-scale training for Chinese banks on ESRM and energy efficiency lending organized by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) in Fuzhou, China in September 2008.

Financing Sustainability

As part of Citi’s US$50 billion target to help address climate change over the next 10 years, Citi Asia Pacific has been active in the financing of alternative energy and clean technology companies, especially in the solar energy sector.

In 2008, Citi China provided more than US$100 million in financing to expand the capacity of some of China’s largest manufacturers of photovoltaic cells, which produce electricity directly from sunlight.

Sustainability Research

In 2008, Citi Australia published 17 sustainability research reports on topics ranging from emissions trading, carbon footprints, and climate change policies.

In addition, the Citi Sustainability and Environmental Opportunities Conference was held in Sydney in May 2008, attracting over 100 participants.

The Director and Senior Analyst of the Citi Investment Research team in Australia has been recognised as a leader in sustainability research, and was invited in 2009 to give testimony to the Australian Senate Inquiry on Climate Change Policy.

Client Engagement

In the last few years, several Citi Asia Pacific markets have encouraged retail clients to opt for electronic statements instead of paper statements, thereby reducing paper consumption and operational costs, as well as providing greater convenience and data security for our clients.

Citi Asia Pacific’s e-statement campaign, known as ‘Project Green’, was expanded in 2008 and has now been implemented in 11 of our consumer banking markets. By December 2008, this had achieved an average client uptake of 25%, and saved around 6,600 trees and over US$4.2 million in costs.

In several markets, Citi has partnered with environmental organisations to further incentivise clients to go paperless. For example, nearly 40% of Citi Korea’s retail clients had subscribed to e-statements by the end of 2008, helping to raise over US$94,000 for Seoul Green Trust.

Community Participation

Citi also supports community programmes in Asia Pacific that help to protect the environment. Citi’s Global Community Day in November 2008 had a strong ‘green’ theme. More than one third of the 276 community projects that employees volunteered for in Asia Pacific were environment-related.

Citi encouraged global ‘lights-out’ participation in Earth Hour in March 2008, and marked Earth Day in April 2008 with extensive internal awareness building throughout ‘Environmental Awareness Week’.

Some markets, such as Citi Taiwan, have demonstrated even greater commitment by designating every April as ‘Citi Environment Month’.

Environment Grants

Though its grantmaking, the Citi Foundation supports environmental innovations in microenterprises, and small and growing businesses.

In 2008, the Citi Foundation awarded grants worth over US$760,000 for sustainable enterprise programmes that are benefiting Asia Pacific such as the Sichuan Sustainable Bamboo Enterprise Programme in China; the Ecotourism Capacity Building Programme in Taiwan; and the Mariculture Livelihood Programme in the Philippines.

The Philippines mariculture programme is an extension of a 2007 pilot to benefit fishing communities on the island province of Guimaras.
The residents’ lives were irrevocably changed by

In 2007 and 2008, the Citi Foundation gave grants to develop sustainable alternative livelihoods for fishing communities on Guimaras Island, Philippines, after a massive oil spill.

a massive oil spill in August 2006. Citi Foundation funding has been used to establish a sustainable marine cage culture farm and train local fishermen to operate a sustainable and environmentally-friendly mariculture business.