Bank of America wants $50 billion in enviro business
by CanadianManufacturing.com Staff
CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Bank of America today announced a 10-year, $50 billion environmental business goal to help address climate change, reduce demands on natural resources and advance lower-carbon economic solutions.
“Environmental business delivers value to our clients, return for our shareholders, and helps strengthen the economy,” said Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan. “We met our prior goal in about half the time we set for ourselves, so more than doubling our target is ambitious but achievable.”
The new environmental business initiative will consist primarily of lending, equipment finance, capital markets and advisory activity, carbon finance, and advice and investment solutions for clients. The areas of focus include:
- Energy efficiency – in residential, commercial, and public properties, as well as supporting the full supply chain that drives energy efficiency.
- Renewable energy and energy infrastructure – including wind, solar, hydro, biomass and waste-to-energy solutions and their upstream and downstream supply chains, as well as smart grid, large-scale energy storage and other important infrastructures.
- Transportation – including certain lower carbon forms of transport such as electric and hybrid electric vehicles, batteries/fuel cells and sustainable bio-fuels, as well as developing local and regional charging infrastructure to support the growth of new hybrid vehicle technologies.
- Water and waste – focusing on innovative new technologies and infrastructure development, including water purification and waste disposal and recycling.
Bank of America plans to meet its $50 billion goal by continuing to develop low-carbon business across its global platform by responding to a worldwide shift in spending and investing patterns on energy security, resource efficiency and broader environmental awareness. The company also will work with traditional businesses such as agriculture, forestry, transportation, technology, retail and healthcare to help advance their low-carbon activities.
Bank of America also will work with third parties to explore how best to quantify the impact of its capital commitment on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and promoting energy conservation, renewable energy generation and other tangible environmental and societal benefits.
Bank of America is one of the world’s largest financial institutions, with approximately 57 million consumer and small business customers.
