HSBC has released its 2006 corporate responsibility report (PDF).
During 2006, HSBC's CO2 emissions per person increased due to "a change in the type of energy we were able to purchase and an increase in air travel," according to the report.
The financial giant says it has programs in place to reverse this trend.
Total CO2 emissions grew from 663,000 tons in 2005 to 813,000 tons in 2006.
HSBC's carbon management strategy consists of three parts: manage and reduce its direct CO2 emissions; reduce the carbon intensity of the electricity it uses by buying green electricity where feasible; and offset the remaining emissions to achieve carbon neutrality. HSBC says that the offsets must be credible, genuinely incremental and cost-effective.
