Three European banks top the rankings: the Spanish Banco Santander in 1st place, the French BNP Paribas in 2nd and the Italian Unicredit in 3rd.
Eight European banks made it into the top 20 greenest banks, which furthermore include seven banks from North America, two from Asia, and one each from Latin America, Australia and Africa.
The European banks among the top 20 include the UK-based HSBC Holdings (in 7th), the Swiss Credit Suisse Group (in 10th), the German Deutsche Bank (in 12th) and the Italian Intesa Sanpaolo (in 14th).
In assessing banks’ environmental awareness, Bloomberg Markets considered investments in green energy (wind, solar, geothermal and hydroelectric energy, and biofuel technology) and commitment to reducing waste generation and the ecological footprint. Consideration was given only to those banks listed under reputable national share indices and having a market value of at least 10 billion dollars.
The list of the greenest financial institutions was prompted by the UN climate summit held in New York and the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s call for entrepreneurs to give up fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions.
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-23/santander-tops-green-bank-list-...
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