HSBC leads green bonanza with £250m renewables pledge

The banking giant unveiled plans to invest around £250m in wind and solar power parks

HSBC is leading a wave of British institutions from the City to the High Street which plan to pour hundreds of millions of pounds into cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

The banking giant unveiled plans to invest around £250m in wind and solar power parks, alongside a swathe of green pledges from another 30 companies including Amazon, BT and John Lewis Partnership.

The low carbon pacts have been timed to coincide with the Government's Green GB initiative, which marks ten years since the UK legislated climate change targets for the first time.

Ministers are preparing to deepen their commitment following the landmark UN report last week which called for urgent action to reduce emissions. They called on Monday for climate experts to map a path to a ‘net zero emissions’ economy.

The new target will require decades of radical change for Britain’s manufacturing, transport and heating sectors in what could prove to be “one of the greatest industrial opportunities of our time”, according to Business Secretary Greg Clark.

Claire Perry, the minister for energy and clean growth, added: “Governments cannot confront this unprecedented global challenge alone. We need businesses around the world to step up to the mark and today our largest companies are leading the way, making significant pledges worth millions to cut emissions while continuing to grow the green economy.”

Energy companies including Engie, formerly known as GDF Suez, Sweden’s Vattenfall and Big Six giant SSE are committing more than £320m of investment to stimulate growth in low carbon heating schemes for towns and cities across the UK, matching government funding

BT has followed suit with its own plans to become a net zero carbon emissions company by 2045. It plans to rely only on electricity from renewable sources and will transition to a fleet of low emission vehicles.

Amazon will also make use of the falling cost of renewable energy by rolling out rooftop solar panel systems across ten of its UK centres as part of a plan to rely only on renewable energy to power its UK warehouses, it said.

Meanwhile, John Lewis will overhaul its 500-strong fleet of diesel-fuelled delivery trucks for “bio-methane clean machines” by 2028. The switch will effectively cut their vehicle emissions by over 80pc, or the equivalent carbon footprint of just over 6,000 UK households.

Justin Laney, head of transport at John Lewis, said the long-distance biomethane trucks “will deliver significant environmental and operational benefits”.

“Five biomethane trucks produce the same emissions as one diesel lorry and they are also much quieter, helping reduce not only greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution but also noise pollution in our cities,” he said.

The latest corporate sustainability goals follow a string of pledges from major companies to adopt greener practises which are increasingly the more economic option too.

Russell Picot, chair of HSBC’s pension trust board, said the renewable energy investment said will help provide predictable long-term cash flows which are “well suited” to meet its pension liabilities.

Earlier this month Big Six energy giant SSE said it would cut its carbon footprint in half by 2030 based on 2018 levels which would be down 75pc from 2016. Separately, retailer Marks & Spencer has pledged to make all of their packaging widely recyclable by 2022.