Corporate Environment Benevolence

January 18, 2004 – Vol.8 No.43

CORPORATE - ENVIRONMENT - BENEVOLENCE

. Last week the BP Foundation awarded Stanford University $1.95 million over three years to support its Program on Energy and Sustainable Development. The BP Foundation, an arm of BP, will join the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) as core sponsors in the program that will explore and design market-based policies that address global warming.

This week two more well known corporations step up to the environmentally-conscious plate - Citigroup and Alcan.

Citigroup, under two-years of pressure from the Rainforest Action Network, has announced that it has adopted new corporate policies that reduce environmental damage and foster environmental improvements.

Included in a number of initiatives, Citigroup will no longer fund illegal logging operations, will carefully scrutinize requests for loans for projects in critical wildlife habitats and projects that adversely affect biodiversity.

And as a business-seeking entity, Citigroup will begin to look for lending opportunities that are considered environmentally sustainable. The company will look for investment opportunities in sustainable forestry, renewable energy, and in financing for residential clean energy systems.

Citigroup, too, will start keeping track of its own greenhouse emissions and take steps to reduce them. Further, it will assist customers in developing financial solutions to reduce emissions and invest in renewable energy.

Alcan has taken another approach to environmental giving. The Canadian aluminum processor and recycler has announced it will award a $1 million prize each year to a single organization that has made, and continues to make, significant contributions that integrate economic, environmental and social sustainability for the benefit of present and future generations. The Alcan Prize for Sustainability will be awarded to a not-for-profit, non-governmental, or civil society organization each year.

Visit Citigroup at http://www.citigroup.com/ (click Press Room) Alcan at http://www.alcan.com/ (click Media, News Releases) and BP at http://www.bp.com/ (click Press)