Natural Capital

Each of us has a responsibility to preserve the nature and the natural resources of the earth. When it comes to the No. 1 Bank in Sri Lanka, there rests an enormous obligation to work towards preserving the environment. But to us at BoC, as a responsible corporate citizen, supporting sustainable initiatives comes naturally. As such, we have implemented many sustainable initiatives to preserve nature and also to be in harmony with the environment. The sustainable development goals adopted by UN countries in 2015 aim to reduce world poverty, promote equality and preserve the environment. We have embraced these goals and have implemented measures in that direction.

A bank uses up resources such as electricity for lighting, air conditioning and use of other electronic devices as well as use a large amounts of water and paper. The use of such resources can have an impact on the environment. Thus, our responsibility is to ensure that we minimise our emissions, the use of non-renewable energy sources and reduce our carbon foot print to the greatest extent possible.

To coincide with the 77th Anniversary of our Bank, we adopted green banking and launched a green banking policy to carry out our day-to-day operations in a sustainable manner. This involves support from many stakeholder groups.

The policy framework is driven by the Sustainability Committee of the Bank and implemented through the operational divisions within the Bank under the leadership of the Corporate management members.

Each division reports the progress of initiatives undertaken back to the main committee on a quarterly basis for monitoring of progress. The setting up of the Sustainability Committee and adoption of the green banking logo were important milestones in this regard.

We are extremely pleased that our initiatives towards adopting sustainable measures have been recognised by the World Sustainability Organisation by naming our General Manager among the 100 Global Sustainable Leaders at the World Sustainability Congress held in Dubai. World Sustainability Organisation is a non-profit organisation advocating government bodies, private organisations and public interest groups in the world for sustainable leadership in accelerating sustainable business practices and solutions.

We have undertaken the following initiatives under the green banking framework:

Green Lending

As part of our green banking initiatives, we have supported environment friendly projects such as purchase/installation of solar power panels, purchase of eco-friendly cars such as hybrid cars and electric cars. As an incentive for promoting these green initiatives, a concessionary rate of interest is also offered on these lending.

In our lending activities, we have a mandatory declaration by the customer that the project/activities undertaken do not cause any damage to the environment and are in line with standards set by environmental authorities.

Promoting the ‘Green’ Concept

Through our advertising campaigns, we have made customers and stakeholders aware of the need for preserving the environment and ramifications of not doing so.

SmartGen, our paperless product was promoted as an environmentally friendly product, highlighting its special features. We encouraged customers to subscribe to eStatements instead of printed statements in order to reduce the usage of paper, and encouraged the move through gift schemes. We promoted the use of internet banking which would be a convenient payment method for customers and save time and natural resources.

We also promoted green banking through advertising campaigns and supported the activities of eco-friendly groups.

Promoting Technology Based Products

The technological advances we made with regard to products, channels and our internal processes helped in our green initiatives too. The technology based products were introduced and the digital channels were promoted not only for competitive advantage, but also as a means of reducing the use of paper. During the year, 71,673 customers enrolled for internet banking and 42,623 SmartGen accounts were opened, bringing the SmartGen accounts to 101,726 level as of end 2016, marking success of our campaigns. Further, on line authorisation of loans through the Document Management System (DMS) significantly reduced the use of paper by the Bank for printing. The use of digital technology to reduce the use of paper, eg: Board papers submitted to Board members via on line channels.

Increase Staff Awareness and Involvement

Staff awareness on the concept of green banking and conserving resources were communicated regularly through emails and by posting on the intranet.

Reuse of paper, using double sides for making copies and printing were promoted actively among staff in order to reduce usage of paper.

Promoting the Green Concept through the Branch Designing and Construction Process

We actively lived the green banking concept and set an example for other stakeholders through our branch designing concept.

Some of the initiatives that were introduced were as follows:

• Appropriate disposal of e-Waste
• Use of non-toxic materials in construction of branches, fixtures and furniture
• Wherever possible, installation of solar power panels for generating the energy needed for the branch
• Apply separate waste sorting systems
• Use of LED bulbs for lighting purposes and maximising the use of natural light in branch designs
• Installation of air conditioners with sensors
• ‘Green Gardens’ at branches

Apart from these, used paper is recycled through Neptune Recyclers. Accordingly, 95,272 kgs of waste paper were recycled during the year.

Way Forward

The vast strides that we have made in embracing sustainable measures in our operations and the promotion of same through our banking products is clear testimony that we have adopted green banking as an on going concept. It is quite evident that unless we take swift action to be sustainable in our operations, that our operations also will not be sustainable in the long run. In this spirit, we will continue to foster our efforts towards a ‘greener’ planet.