The New York Stock Exchange is purchasing renewable energy credits to offset the approximately 28 million kilowatt hours it uses annually, reports the Baltimore Sun.
The NYSE is buying RECs to support the installation of wind energy. Constellation NewEnergy is providing the certified offsets.
As a result, the NYSE estimates it will avoid about 57 million pounds of CO2 emissions a year.
The NYSE worked with energy consulting firm Co-eXprise to set up the deal, according to a press release.
"The New York Stock Exchange is at the very heart of global financial markets, and this agreement enables us to power a critical part of our operations in a way that is environmentally sustainable," said Jeffrey Pellet, senior vice president and Global Head of Facilities and Corporate Services, NYSE Euronext.
Other stock exchanges are tying themselves to the environment in different ways, namely by offering indexes related to sustainability and carbon cutting.
The NASDAQ OMX CRD Global Sustainability 50 Index tracks companies on the “leading edge of self-reporting sustainability activities.”
Also last year, the Standard & Poor’s launched the S&P U.S. Carbon Efficient Index, which measures the performance of large cap U.S. companies with relatively low carbon emissions, while closely tracking the return of the S&P 500
