- Celebrates 125 year legacy by launching “Greening Botswana” campaign
- 12,500 indigenous plants to be planted nationwide by June 2023
- CEO: “I am here today to re-emphasise our commitment to Botswana”
The CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Botswana, Mpho Masupe, says the commitment of the country’s oldest financial institution to becoming a sustainable and responsible bank encapsulates the way the bank does business in the communities in which it operates.
Masupe was speaking at an event where Standard Bank donated 125 indigenous trees to Itumeleng Primary School in Gaborone recently. Using the occasion as an opportunity to launch its “Greening Botswana” campaign, the bank unveiled its plans to plant 12,500 indigenous plants across Botswana by June 2023. Masupe noted that as the world evolves, StanChart must adapt and adjust to new challenges such as the pressures of global warming that visibly affect the world and how business is done.
“The United Nations notes that greenhouse gas emissions are at their highest levels in 2 million years and continue to rise,” he pointed out, adding that 2015 to 2019 were the five warmest years on record while 2010-2019 was the warmest decade on record. “We know that the Botswana Government has signed up to the Paris Agreement and that Botswana is carefully tracking our commitment to have reduced our carbon emissions by 15 percent by the year 2013,” Masupe said. He noted that the government’s efforts to curb climate change align closely to the bold stand of ensuring that the Standard Chartered footprint reaches net zero by the 2050.
The bank, he stated, is well on its way to achieving this with projects such as the recently launched Main Mall Branch, which is solar powered, and the energy saving Express Banking Centre in Lobatse. “We have now started thinking about how to impact the communities around us,” he said. “We specifically wanted to ensure that our communities not only benefit from our sustainability efforts, but more than that, that we leave a footprint that will live beyond all of us sitting here today.”
Standard Chartered Bank Botswana says the project is part of celebrating its 125-year legacy in Botswana and aims to green the country through indigenous trees specifically where Batswana converge in large numbers like healthcare centres, dikgotla and schools. “This challenge for Standard Chartered is symbolic of our 125-year legacy but is also a commitment to another 125years in Botswana,” Masupe said. “The trees that we plant today are a testament to our being rooted in Botswana. “As we have transformed our operating model to become digital, some have questioned our commitment to Botswana. I am here today to re-emphasise our commitment to Botswana.”
