Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
• Runner-up ‘Sustainable Bank of the Year’: Financial Times • Outstanding Green Excellence Award: Capital Monthly,
Hong Kong
• Guia Exame de Sustentabilidade 2010 (Exame Sustainability
Guide), Brazil • Environmental Leadership and Special Achievement
Awards: WWF Philippines
• Best in Class Corporate Sustainability Award – Hong Kong:
Benchmark Wealth Management Awards
Cover image: An evening view of the Central Elevated Walkway in the Hong Kong SAR’s business district.
Photography: Matthew Mawson
About this Report
Founded in Hong Kong and Shanghai The HSBC Holdings plc Sustainability We welcome feedback from readers.
in 1865, HSBC today serves around Report is written primarily for Contact details can be found on page
95 million customers in 87 countries institutional investors, customers, 24 of this report.
and territories around the world. non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
Reporting standards and assurance
Headquartered in London, we do and others with a particular professional
We use a number of external standards
business in Asia, Europe, the Middle interest in the Group’s approach to
and guidelines in the development of
East, Africa, Latin America and North sustainability.
this report. These include the Global
America. HSBC was profitable in all
This report focuses on the specific Reporting Initiative’s (GRI’s) reporting
regions in 2010.
environmental and social issues that framework and Financial Services
contribute to the sustainability of HSBC, Supplement. Our GRI table of
and are of ongoing interest to our contents can be found at
Reporting throughout stakeholders. It supplements the Annual www.hsbc.com/sustainabilityreport.
Report and Accounts 2010 and the
the year Annual Review 2010. The Annual Report
We draw on guidance from the
Greenhouse Gas Protocol for our
and Accounts covers HSBC’s financial
carbon reporting. We have continued to
performance and corporate governance
We participate in research from the use the Connected Reporting
policies and is available online at
following organisations: Framework developed by the Prince
www.hsbc.com/financialresults.
of Wales’s Accounting for Sustainability
BankTrack
We report on the financial year January Project, which can be found at
Carbon Disclosure Project to December 2010. In some cases, www.hsbc.com/sustainabilityreport.
EIRIS where highlighted, information for early
For the third consecutive year, we have
Ethibel 2011 is also included to give an up-to-
appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Oekom date picture. Facts and figures refer to
to provide independent assurance on
the Group unless indicated otherwise.
RiskMetrics selected information in our Sustainability
Sustainable Asset Management In 2010, we held meetings with some of Report 2010: our carbon emissions and
our top 50 institutional investors in related offsets, and application of the
Sustainalytics
London, Paris and Frankfurt to update Equator Principles. Their assurance is
Vigeo them on our approach to sustainability, performed in accordance with the
hear their feedback on our priorities and internationally recognised standard
performance, and answer their ISAE3000, against a clear and public set
questions. We also met around 25 of criteria which can be found at
NGOs at Group level alone to share www.hsbc.com/sus-assurance.
views on topics related to banking and The PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
sustainability. This report is based on assurance report is on page 23.
an understanding of our stakeholders’
Targets and commitments
expectations, informed by those
We continue to report our performance
discussions. As a result, we have
against established targets and
chosen to focus on the following issues:
commitments. For this year, we have
• Contribution to the economy outlined our future goals and direction in
• Supporting our customers each section without setting new formal
• Valuing our employees commitments. This is a more accurate
expression of our strategy, as most of
• Climate business our important initiatives span a longer
• Risk management time-frame than one year.
We publish a range of publications,
as well as case studies and other • Investing in communities
material to supplement this report, • Environmental efficiency in our
on our web site at operations
www.hsbc.com/sustainability.
It is ultimately the responsibility of every Heads of Sustainability in each of the the chairman was Narayana Murthy, a
person within HSBC to make the right Group’s five main regions have joint non-executive Director (appointed
decision and to be accountable. Each of reporting lines to their local 28 May 2010), and the members were
our colleagues contributes to managing management boards, and to the Group Vincent Cheng, an executive Director
one or more of the priority issues we Head of Corporate Sustainability. The (appointed 28 May 2010), William Fung
report on here. Group Head of Human Resources is (retired 28 May 2010), Sir Mark Moody-
responsible for Corporate Sustainability Stuart (retired 28 May 2010) and Gerry
A structure is in place to embed social
on behalf of the Group Chief Executive Davis, Lord May and Dame Mary Marsh,
and environmental issues into the
and the Group Management Board. who are non-Director members of the
business. We have sustainability teams
committee. The committee held five
working at Group, regional and country Environmental, social and ethical issues
meetings in 2010.
levels to shape our approach to are overseen by the Corporate
business opportunities and risks, and Sustainability Committee, a sub- Some key sustainability themes have
community investment. Many other committee of the HSBC Holdings plc specific governance structures to
specially trained individuals in Board. The committee is responsible for support them. Climate business strategy
departments across the Group hold advising the Board, committees of the and direction is set by the new Climate
responsibility for implementing our Board and executive management. Business Council, chaired by Stuart
policies, for example in credit risk, Gulliver, the Group Chief Executive.
The Corporate Sustainability Committee
purchasing, information technology,
is composed of non-executive Directors
and relationship management teams.
and non-Director members. In 2010,
International commitments
We have voluntarily agreed to abide by a number of external principles and global initiatives, some of which are listed here:
Climate Principles A framework for the finance sector to help individuals and clients to understand and
manage the risks, opportunites and adaptation needs relating to climate change.
Equator Principles A common framework to address the environmental and social issues that arise in
financing projects.
Extractive Industries Transparency A global standard for transparency developed to counter misuse of payments to
Initiative governments for mineral rights and mining.
Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS A coalition of companies united to keep the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and
malaria a global priority.
UNEP Finance Initiative A global partnership between the UN Environmental Programme and the financial
sector working to understand the impacts of environmental and social considerations
on financial performance.
UN Universal Declaration A declaration which set out for the first time, in 1948, fundamental human rights to
of Human Rights be universally protected.
Wolfsberg Principles An association of 11 global banks which aims to develop financial services industry
standards and related products for Know Your Customer, Anti-Money Laundering
and Counter-Terrorist Financing policies. HSBC is a founding member.
organisation.
20
view of the role of banks. We are
20
strengthening our values-led culture by
20
1
Empowering our
0
embedding the Group Values into
0
operating standards, strategic learning
0
2007 2008 2009 2010
employees to lead programmes, employee development,
induction, individual assessment, and
with courageous through the personal sponsorship and
role-modelling of senior executives.
identifying actions to improve this
experience. Employee engagement fell
integrity is We expect all employees to lead with
courageous integrity.
from 71 per cent in 2009 to 68 per cent
in 2010. Although the score is lower
fundamental to our In 2011, our Group Values will be
than theCompliance
2010 objective
level of 72 per cent,
it was six percentage points higher than
long-term success.” further incorporated into performance
management, talent definitions,
the external global average and three
percentage points above the financial
appointments, and learning and services sector average.
Ann Almeida
development programmes. Governance
Group Managing Director, Diversity and inclusion
of the Group Values is overseen by a
Human Resources Our deep roots in many geographies,
Group Values Committee, which is
accountable to the Group Management an international mindset, and a
Board. commitment to meritocracy inform
our perspective on diversity. Gender,
Employee engagement ethnicity and age are areas of strategic
Engaged employees are key to focus. We continue to build an inclusive
achieving a high performance culture. culture where employees believe that
We encourage line managers to foster their views are heard, their concerns are
open and honest communication and addressed, and they work in an
promote active employee involvement environment where bias, discrimination
in decision-making. Employment issues and harassment are not tolerated and
and the financial and economic factors where advancement is based on merit.
affecting HSBC’s performance are Our commitment to diversity enables us
regularly shared with our employees. to serve our global customer base more
In 2010, we conducted our fourth effectively and helps us to retain skilled
Global People Survey, which achieved and committed employees.
a participation rate of 90 per cent Oversight of related activities resides
compared with 91 per cent in 2009. with the Group Diversity Committee,
This annual employee survey allows our supported by local People / Diversity
people to provide feedback on their Committees. A Diversity and Inclusion
employment experience at HSBC and Index, which includes the themes of
encourages their involvement in valuing diverse perspectives and
US
il
s
az
in
di
er
pa
Ch
In
Br
th
Ja
ar
ag e
at ble
ls
nc t
nc g
nc l
ag y
id t
ie tria
ie or
gr ar
or ur
ie in
ue
cle
y
s
Sm
fic sp
ec a
he wa
fic ild
st ne
st pt
fic s
in
el new
of
ef du
Nu
ef ran
ef Bu
E
ne
Bi
In
an on
T
Re
Re
Environmental and social risks can have standards which enable decision-making
a material impact on the financial by risk managers across the bank. The
success of our business and that of our policies are applied to all lending and
customers. We believe that taking a other forms of financial assistance,
responsible approach to our finance and primary debt and equity markets
lending activity is the right thing to do. activities, project finance and advisory
Our investors, customers, employees work. Some 43,000 business customers
and other stakeholders expect us to come under these policies, an increase
take a sustainable and responsible of almost 10,000 since 2009. The
approach to managing our lending. It is policies also extend to asset
for these reasons that sustainability management, but recognise the lower
themes are incorporated into our degree of influence we have over
assessment of potential customers, and third-party investments where the final
feature in our support for customers decision may not rest with the Group.
throughout our relationship with them.
Equator Principles
Sector policies In 2004, HSBC adopted the Equator
Since 2003, our processes for managing Principles, a framework used by
the risks of lending and other financial financial institutions to assess the
services have incorporated a detailed potential environmental and social
sustainability risk analysis. Our approach impacts of large projects and to help
to dealing with this type of risk is to their customers to manage them.
focus on the industry sectors in which The Principles have been effective in
the majority of sustainability risks arise. ensuring that large projects are
These ‘sensitive’ business sectors are developed and operate in accordance
forest land and forest products; mining with international good practice in
and metals; chemicals; freshwater relation to environmental and social
infrastructure; and energy. We also have issues.
a defence equipment policy which
The Equator Principles Association
clarifies our approach to companies
requires that signatory financial
involved with weapons. Summaries of
institutions apply its framework to
all these policies can be viewed at:
project finance deals worth US$10
www.hsbc.com/sus-risk.
million or more. For several years, HSBC
Our sustainability risk policies and has taken this a step further by using
guidance notes set the framework and the Equator Principles framework,
6% 2%
19% Telecomm- Mining XX
66% Asia-Pacific
Europe, unications and metals
Middle East 18%
and Africa 35% Oil and gas X
Power
er
t
ian
ian
ian
ian
ian
ian
ad
ad
relationships with those customers that
pl
pl
pl
pl
pl
pl
Le
Le
m
om
om
m
Business Banking
Co
co
Co
co
had not shown any evidence of
-c
-c
n-
n-
ar
ar
No
No
Ne
Ne
improved standards by the end of 2009,
as soon as contractual obligations
allowed. In the energy sector, the Forest Land and Forest Products Energy 2008
number of near-compliant customers Compliance level 2009 2009
Compliance level 2009
increased from 3.5 per cent to 5.3 per 2010 2010
% %
cent. This reflects our closer scrutiny
100 100
of customers in this sector throughout 100 93.5 10
the year as part of our energy sector 90 88.9 9
80 81.3 80
policy review process. 75.8 80 8
70 7
Risk managers 60 60
60 6
Our global network of risk managers 50 5
includes individuals who are trained 40 40
40 4
and are experienced in reviewing 30 3
sustainability risk. In 2010, we ran 20 20
12.6 11.3 20 2
a three-day training course for all 6.9 1 1
0
4.7 4.6 2.8 0 3.0105.8 3.5 5.3 0 0
1
sustainability risk managers around the 0
world. Our dedicated sustainability risk
er
er
t
ian
ian
ian
ian
ian
ian
ad
ad
pl
pl
pl
pl
pl
Le
Le
m
om
om
Business Banking
Co
co
Co
co
-c
n-
n-
ar
ar
No
No
Ne
Ne
er
t
ian
ian
ian
ian
ian
ian
ad
ad
pl
pl
pl
pl
pl
pl
Le
Le
m
om
om
co
Co
co
-c
-c
n-
ar
ar
No
No
Ne
Ne
of customers.
Employee 8.0
12.0
CO2 tonnes
Project 2009 2010
Emissions from energy use in buildings,
including data centres 866,000 875,000
Less US purchased renewable energy certificates 140,000 120,000
Net emissions from energy use in buildings, HSBC’s Reporting Guidance for
including data centres 726,000 755,000 emissions and offsets is available at
Emissions from business travel 125,000 142,000 www.hsbc.com/sus-assurance.
See PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Net total emissions 851,000 897,000
assurance report, page 23.
Carbon offsets purchased 851,000 897,000
1 For comparison purposes, currency values have been restated to reflect the position had foreign currency rates remained constant.
2 Includes donations for global programmes, of which US$42.2 million was spent outside of Europe.
3 2009 figure restated due to enhancement in data collection processes, from US$8.2 million to US$7.7 million.
4 For the purpose of ensuring carbon neutrality, these figures have been scaled up to represent 100% coverage and adjusted for uncertainty factors.
The figures represent the total emissions before deductions of US renewable energy certificates.
Establish a ‘climate business council’ chaired by an executive Achieved. See page 10.
Director to lead our response to commercial opportunities for
HSBC and its customers in the ‘climate business’ sector.
Seek and invest in opportunities to create new technologies that Achieved. See page 11.
will help drive the ‘climate business’ sector.
Establish a working group to assess risks to the business and Achieved. The working group met eight times in 2010.
our customers from climate change.
Issue a summary of our defence equipment policy. Achieved. The policy summary is available at
www.hsbc.com/sus-risk.
Issue our revised energy sector policy. Achieved in January 2011. Available at
www.hsbc.com/sus-risk.
Issue a summary of our policy on the palm oil sector and Achieved. A summary was issued internally to relationship
encourage certification under the Roundtable on Sustainable managers, including guidance for encouraging customers
Palm Oil. to aim for certification under the Roundtable on Sustainable
Palm Oil.
Achieve a target score for employee engagement of 72% Not achieved. Attained 68%, three points above the
in 2010. financial services sector average. See page 8.
Include diversity and inclusion in objectives for management. Achieved. See page 8.
Improve position on customer recommendation in major In progress. See page 6. Customer recommendation
markets compared with 2009 performance. continues to be a key area of focus.
Expand JA More Than Money™, our global financial literacy Partially achieved. Programme expanded to four more
programmes, to five more countries. countries in line with local priorities.
Train a further 400 employees from 40 countries as Achieved. See page 17.
‘Climate Champions’.
Publish a mid-term evaluation of the HSBC Climate Partnership Partially achieved. A review was conducted for the partners
by a third party. and recommended improvements to the programme
were made.
Increase awareness and use of tele- and video-conferencing to Achieved. We expanded video-conferencing facilities by
reduce environmental impact of business travel and commuting. over 200%, and the average monthly usage more than
doubled compared with 2009.
Trial software to virtually connect HSBC’s property portfolio to Achieved. We are now assessing the cost benefit of wider
monitor and manage energy use. implementation.
Help to achieve the 16 sustainability objectives in the Chief We achieved 15 of the 16 objectives. We did not achieve the
Technology and Service Officer’s balanced scorecard at country, paper reduction target due to regulatory requirements for
regional and Group levels. increased paperwork in the US.
Increase engagement with employees in operational functions Achieved. See page 18.
to create change agents to drive internal sustainability projects.
Roll out sustainability questionnaire across Europe and Partially achieved. Applied sustainability assessments as
Middle East. part of the tender process for UK suppliers. Suppliers were
scored and required to improve performance in some cases.
What we are a. Statement on the application of the How the HSBC’s Reporting Guidance for measuring,
assuring Equator Principles on page 13. information recording and reporting the selected Equator
(‘Selected b. Statement of HSBC’s emissions and is assessed Principles and carbon emissions data are set
Information’) offsets resulting in carbon neutrality on (‘reporting out at www.hsbc.com/sus-assurance.
page 19. criteria’)
Understanding There is not yet an established practice Work done by • Evaluated the design and operating
HSBC’s for evaluating and measuring our independent effectiveness of key processes and controls over
reporting and sustainability performance information. and multi- the Selected Information;
measurement The range of different, but acceptable, disciplinary • Assessed the reliability of the source data used
methodologies techniques used can result in materially team of to prepare the reported data for 2010, including
different reporting outcomes which sustainability reperforming a sample of calculations;
may affect comparability with other and assurance
organisations. It is therefore important, specialists 3 • Carried out analytical procedures over the
for both the readers of the HSBC Selected Information;
Sustainability Report 2010 and us, to • Examined, on a selective basis, internal and third
understand how HSBC has evaluated party documentation, as well as making inquiries
and measured the Selected Information of management and others, and analysing media
which are set out in HSBC’s Reporting reports;
Guidance at • Reviewed the disclosures in the HSBC
www.hsbc.com/sus-assurance. Sustainability Report related to the Selected
Information.
HSBC’s The Directors of HSBC are responsible for: Our We are responsible for:
responsibilities • designing, implementing and responsibilities • forming independent conclusions, based on
maintaining internal controls over our assurance procedures;
information relevant to the
Sustainability Report 2010; • reporting our conclusions to the Directors
of HSBC;
• establishing objective assessment and
reporting criteria for preparing the • reading the other information included in the
Sustainability Report; Sustainability Report, and considering the
consistency of that other information with the
• measuring HSBC’s performance based understanding gained from our work, and
on the assessment criteria; considering the implications for our report if we
• the content of the Sustainability become aware of any material inconsistencies.
Report. Our responsibilities do not extend to any other
information.
Our In our opinion nothing has come to our attention to indicate that for the year ended 31 December 2010, the Selected
conclusions Information has not been fairly stated in all material respects in accordance with HSBC’s Reporting Guidance.
This report, including our conclusions, has been prepared solely for the Directors of HSBC as a body in accordance with the
agreement between us, to assist the Directors in reporting HSBC’s corporate sustainability performance and activities. We permit
this report to be disclosed in the Sustainability Report for the year ended 31 December 2010 to enable the Directors to show they
have met their governance responsibilities by obtaining an independent assurance report in connection with the Selected Information.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Directors as a body and
management for our work on this report except where terms are expressly agreed between us in writing.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chartered Accountants, London
18 May 2011
1 International Standard on Assurance Engagements 3000 (Revised) – ‘Assurance Engagements other than Audits and Reviews of Historical Financial Information’
issued by the IAASB www.ifac.org/IAASB.
2 Assurance, defined by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB), gives the user confidence about the subject matter (“Selected
Information”) assessed against the reporting criteria. Reasonable assurance gives more confidence than limited assurance. The evidence gathered to support a
reasonable assurance conclusion is greater than that gathered to support a limited assurance conclusion.
3 We comply with the applicable independence and competency requirements of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) Code of
Ethics www.icaew.com.
Susanna Wilson
Communications and Reporting
Manager
Group Corporate Sustainability
HSBC Holdings plc
8 Canada Square
London E14 5HQ
United Kingdom
www.hsbc.com/sustainabilityreport
Photography
Group Chairman, page 2: Charles Best