Banks, Climate Change & Green Real Estate: Money Talks

 

Mindy Lubber, head of Ceres, talks about how the big US banks are taking responsibility to reduce the negative effects of climate change. You’ll notice that she mentions the banks being signatories to the Carbon Principles and changing the way they go about financing coal-fired power plants.

This is good to keep in mind because people often get confused about why some of the big banks advertise their corporate social responsibility, as if its a global policy applicable to all lines of business, but still have no committed capital, specific products or policies earmarked for green commercial real estate.

No, I’m not saying that they are greenwashing. Certainly tightening due diligence and financing guidelines for coal-fired power plants is a good thing.

The Green Journey take on it is caveat emptor**, but in a proactive, not a lazy or disaffected, sense.

Keep in mind that any company — not just banks — advertising their social responsibility can (and often do) “choose locally” and “talk about it globally”. Yes, they can pick out a few business areas to be more green, ignore the others, claim to be totally socially responsible, and then use that to enlarge their corporate reputations, win awards, and make more money. All of which keeps watchdogs like Ceres in business in the first place.

How to navigate this space? Its up to all of us to give credit where credit is due, and at the same time ask more pointed questions about their business policies regarding sustainable real estate and then vote with our wallets.

Notes:
** Means ‘you’re on your own, dog’. Thousands of years ago in Latin, it meant ‘let the buyer beware’.