Barclays 2007 Annual Report Download - page 75

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Business review
Barclays PLC Annual Report 2007 73
Barclays as a responsible global citizen
Twenty years ago the idea of ‘corporate citizenship’ described a company’s
community activities, which rarely extended beyond philanthropic
donations. Public understanding of the responsibilities of business has
evolved considerably since then. For us, being a responsible global citizen
does not just cover our award-winning community investment programme,
but also includes how we behave as an employer, and how we manage
Barclays wider social and environmental impacts.
Climate change has become the single biggest challenge the world faces
at the beginning of the 21st century, and in response we are focusing
increasingly on our work on the environment, which includes both our
direct and indirect impacts.
The environment
As a major financial services organisation we want to take a lead in helping
our clients thrive in a lower-carbon future, and use our position to press
for appropriate policies and regulatory frameworks to deal with climate
change. We will be 100% carbon neutral globally by next year. We remain
committed to increasing our energy efficiency, and reducing our carbon
footprint on an ongoing basis, as well as helping our supply chain reduce
its emissions.
We also believe we can make a positive impact though the products and
services we offer, and the lending decisions we make. In 2007, we invested
further in our emissions trading capability, and moved into the consumer
market with new lower-carbon products and services.
An example is Barclaycard Breathe, a new card that gives consumers
incentives when they buy green products, and donates half its profits to
environmental projects. In the wholesale market we have Barclays Capital’s
commitment to the EU emissions trading market, where it brings its full
range of commodity trading and risk management expertise to bear to
help clients manage their carbon risk. Since 2005 we have traded over 600
million tonnes of carbon credits, with a notional value of over $14 billion.
Our supply chain
Since 2006 we have required all new and high-risk suppliers to provide
us detailed information about their social, environmental and ethical
performance. In the last year Absa adapted it for the special conditions
of the South African market.
Measuring the emissions generated from a company’s supply chain is also
becoming increasingly important, and we are engaging more with our
own suppliers on this. This included a special forum for nine key suppliers,
which has been followed up with one-to-one discussions to ascertain the
proportion of each firm’s emissions that are attributable to us. We have
identified a number of ways to help suppliers address their emissions, and
now have a working group in place to take these ideas forward in 2008.
Human rights
We have represented the banking sector on the Business Leaders’
Initiative on Human Rights since its launch in 2003 and, since October
2006, have co-chaired the United Nations Environment Programme
Finance Initiative (UNEPFI) human rights work stream. During 2007 we
worked as part of a team of 12 financial institutions to develop an online
tool for UNEPFI that provides guidance on human rights issues associated
with corporate lending. It is designed to help identify potential risks and
how they may be reduced or managed. The guidance covers specific
issues relevant to different sectors, ranging from employment terms and
conditions, to health and safety, to child labour, to relocation of
communities, among many others.
Project Finance Deals – whole Barclays Group
ABC
Higher Medium Lower Total Total
Category Risk Risk Risk 2007 2006
Number of project
finance deals 7 18 29 54 36
Deals completed
or pending 4 12 29 45 30
– of which, number
where sustainability related
changes were made. 4 12 29 45 30
Deals considered, but
not participated in 36096
Projects referred
from EU 5 9 24 38 25
Projects referred
from Africa 21475
Projects referred
from Asia Pacific 04153
Projects referred
from North America 04043
Non project
Project finance deals
Project finance financeareferred to E and
deals by sector deals S Risk Team
Agriculture and Fisheries 0 4
Forestry and Logging 0 16
Manufacturing 3 30
Chemicals, pharmaceuticals
manufacturing and bulk storage 1 6
Mining and Metals 6 91
Power generationb16 118
Oil and gas 4 41
Utilities and Waste Management 5 7
Infrastructure (including dams, pipelines) 9 26
Service Industry 10 7
Totals 54 346
Note
aProject finance as defined by Basel II www.bis.org/publ/bcbs118.pdf. bOf which non-fossil fuel deals contributed 9 and 89 to project finance deals and non-
project finance deals referred to E and S Team respectively.