On Earth Day on Thursday last week, leaders from the US, China and many other countries hosted a climate summit to demonstrate the urgency of addressing climate issues.
In the face of climate change, Citibank Taiwan Ltd (台灣花旗) has continued to work on environmental, social and governance (ESG) sustainability, as well as public service commitments in Taiwan.
On Earth Day, Citibank Taiwan and the Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition released an online questionnaire. In addition, Citibank Taiwan has joined the GW100+ campaign to help local social welfare organizations by taking concrete action to shine a light on the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Photo courtesy of Citibank Taiwan
Citibank Taiwan head of government affairs and country corporate affairs April Pan (潘玲嬌) said that the company is committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Citibank Taiwan has long been committed to leveraging the influence of the financial industry, and is committed to contributing to the sustainability of Taiwanese society and the planet, Pan said.
Citibank hopes to achieve the five EARTH visions: Empower — to nurture the younger generation to fight climate change; Access — to help social welfare organizations benefit from green energy sources; Renewable — to support renewable energy; Transition — to assist in low-carbon transformation; and Habitable — to make the Earth sustainable and habitable.
In the past few years, Citibank has been proactively responding to climate change through youth empowerment. At the end of last year, it partnered with the Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition to create the first “Youth Climate Diplomacy Capacity Forum,” and through activities such as the World Climate Workshop connected the international outlook of young Taiwanese with the latest global ESG trends.
On Earth Day, Citibank and the coalition released an online questionnaire, which found that the top three climate actions that people are most willing to engage in are: “Make sure to recycle resources” (91 percent), “reduce the use of disposable plastic” (86 percent), and “choose environmentally friendly consumption” (85 percent).
The least popular choice was “think carefully before buying clothes” (79 percent).
According to Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition president Chang Han-wei (張寒瑋), Taiwanese are generally aware of environmental protection, and more than 90 percent are willing to implement resource recycling.
This is not only because there is a low threshold for action, but also because the government promotes environmental education in schools, so children can guide their families and society to work together on making resource recycling the first choice for action against climate change, Chang said.
However, the rise of fast fashion and online shopping has made it more difficult to think carefully before buying clothes, she said.
On Wednesday last week, Citibank participated in the GW100+ event.
Alongside Sunnyfounder, the Taiwan Green Energy for Charity Association and industry representatives, the bank pledged to raise more than 100 green energy initiatives by 2030, including specific proposals such as making donations to sponsor solar power plants, purchasing green energy certificates and carbon rights, and reaffirming its commitment to Taiwan’s public welfare and sustainable ESG operations.
In response to the government’s green energy policy, Citibank has partnered with Sunnyfounder since 2017 to assist in the installation of a solar power plant at the St Camillus Center for Intellectual Disability in Yilan County, creating the first domestic renewable energy charity certificates to help nonprofit organizations save on electricity costs by generating their own energy, and expanding the benefits of green power by selling renewable energy certificates with a 20-year operating capital.
Citibank has also joined hands with its employees to participate in volunteer services and small donations, and with its corporate client, TCI Co Ltd (大江生醫), to purchase certificates to give back and support social welfare organizations.
These actions not only expand stakeholder cooperation, but also highlight a number of the UN’s sustainability goals and implement ESG sustainability strategies.
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