RBS is top UK bank for renewable energy use

The 2012 Bloomberg Corporate Renewable Energy Index (CREX) shows 61% of our global energy use came from renewable sources. In the UK, the figure is 100%.

We also lent more than any other bank to renewable energy projects in the UK last year.

The CREX places RBS 8th in the list of UK companies assessed by Bloomberg - more than ten places higher than the next bank on the ranking.

The bank has transformed its efforts to support reductions in green house gas emissions. For example:

• £50 million set up to help the agriculture sector and small businesses to meet upfront costs of renewables projects
• The London Energy Efficiency Fund (LEEF) through which RBS provides loans for public sector organisations looking to reduce energy consumption by at least 20%. Half of the £100m funding is available through RBS
• £366m lent to renewable energy projects in the UK in 2011
• In the US, RBS arranged and distributed $1.8bn of debt capital in 2011. We recently won the Environmental Finance Award for Solar Deal of the year for the Topaz Solar Farm bond financing
• Ambitious carbon reduction targets, including cuts in energy, paper, water and air travel use. We estimate that as well as the environmental benefits, meeting the targets can save the bank £200m by 2020

The CREX report comes just a few days after we retained our place in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. This tracks the corporate sustainability of the world’s leading companies, and includes only the top 10% of the 2,500 largest listed companies assessed in the research.

"RBS is committed to ongoing reductions in its carbon footprint. Procuring our energy supply from renewable sources wherever we can has played an important part in that. With thousands of buildings across more than 30 countries worldwide, it’s not always straight forward – but our target to cut energy and associated CO2 emissions by 15% by the end of January 2014 demonstrates how committed we are."

Callum Stuart, RBS Energy and Sustainability Manager

"RBS is working hard to help fund the transition to a low carbon economy. Last year we loaned more than double the amount of any other bank to renewable energy projects in the UK. We also aim to offer our customers new and innovative ways of managing their own energy needs through renewable sources. Not only does that help them save money in the long term, it also helps them reduce their own carbon footprint - it’s a real win win."

Andrew Buglass, RBS Head of Energy, Structured Finance