Banking on a Greener Future

HSBC volunteers collecting seeds.

Last week, volunteers from HSBC were doing a very different kind of banking as they gathered seeds for the Millennium Seed Bank as part of a project organised by environmental charity, Earthwatch. Throughout the day, the volunteers also learned about the importance of seed banking as a global conservation tool and how a day’s volunteering supports Kew’s wider role in tackling climate change.
Robert Yates, from the Kew Foundation, explained further: “We know that tackling climate change will involve plant-based solutions. Plants are the building blocks on which all human livelihood depends. They’re also incredibly beautiful and bring great joy to millions around the world.”

HSBC volunteers helping to process the seeds back in the lab.

The 25 volunteers, employees of HSBC bank, spent the day at the Millennium Seed Bank as part of the new global HSBC Climate Partnership. As one of the four key players in the partnership, Earthwatch is organising eight volunteering projects with local NGO partners throughout the country. By 2011, 4,000 HSBC employees will have volunteered in the UK.
Steve Gray, HCP Programme Development Manager at Earthwatch, commented: “This is the largest environmental employee engagement programmes we know of. A vital component of the partnership is bringing it down to this very local level and demonstrating that individuals really can make a positive impact, simply by taking action on their own doorstep. We hope that projects like this one will provide a vital service for the local community and provide learning opportunities for individual volunteers.”

(5th November 2007)