Carbon Labeled Banking
Halifax has launched the Carbon Trust’s pilot carbon reduction label for the Halifax Web Saver account, a savings product with more than 1.1 million accounts. The Halifax effort is supposed to be the first such attempt by a financial services institution in Europe. The labeling works by estimating the carbon footprint for the average account. For the Halifax Web Saver Account Carbon Trust has calculated the figure to stand at 204g of greenhouse gas emissions per year. Halifax has committed to reducing these emissions within two years. If a reduction is not achieved, the label will be withdrawn. The pilot carbon reduction label is displayed on the Halifax Web Saver online site and shows existing and potential customers how much greenhouse gas emissions their account produces from the initial application and customers’ transactions. The carbon footprint calculated includes carbon emissions both from opening the account and the annual use of the account. Read more at Easier and at Finextra.
