KUALA LUMPUR: Hong Leong Bank (HLB) has kick-started its mangrove swamp ecosystem rehabilitation and conservation project with the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) to help in the restoration of 15 hectares of degraded forest land.
As part of its sustainability journey and environmental management, HLB will help in the restoration of the forest land by planting about 50,000 new mangrove trees in the Kuala Selangor Nature Park.
"This will be for over the next three years as part of the bank's commitment to help mitigate climate change, and offset its own operations environmental impact," it said.
Group managing director and chief executive officer Domenic Fuda said as a financial institution, the bank was cognisant of the need to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations into its banking activities.
This also includes the bank's own operations, so that it helps direct resources that will build environmental and economic resiliency.
"Initiatives such as this one with MNS makes our sustainability journey more holistic and overtime yield tangible results that rehabilitate and conserve the environment.
"While much more needs to be done, this is a starting point in the journey to achieve our carbon neutral ambitions, and helping to achieve the right balance between the three pillars of sustainability - people, planet and the bottom line," Fuda said.
According to HLB, the mangrove forest environmental management initiative was a considered approach given the valuable and highly productive ecosystem that mangroves provide.
This is also in addition to sustaining community livelihoods and wildlife.
"A healthy and established mangrove ecosystem supports habitats that are critical to preserve rich biodiversity, providing environmental protection against land erosion for example.
"They also offer socio-economic and commercial benefits including fisheries, timber and tourism," the bank said.
HLB said it had also taken steps to strengthen the bank lending/financing sustainability practices by introducing its Business & Corporate Banking ESG Framework in 2020.
The framework serves as a foundation to guide the Bank ESG considerations in the credit evaluation of its small and medium enterprises (SME) and corporate customers, it said.
"HLB is also upgrading its energy system in its buildings and branches to optimize consumption of energy.
"On the business front, HLB has introduced climate-positive and green financing, which focuses on renewable energy and energy efficiency projects for both business and individual customers.
"Since 2018, the bank has identified renewable energy as a growth opportunity and has set up a dedicated team of renewable energy specialists to build up this portfolio.
"To date, it has approved over RM2.3 billion in renewable energy financing for solar, biomass, biogas and small hydropower projects," it added.