HSBC Holdings plc Sustainability Report 2007

Community Investment (continued)
of managing and measuring a company’s community investment. This
includes the administration and co-ordination costs involved in
managing our community programmes. In 2007, over 88,000 employees
participated in community projects around the Group, contributing a
total of 338,512 hours in company time. In financial terms, this
contribution represents an additional US$9.5 million to the
community.
Employee volunteering in company time 2007
North America
Latin America
Europe
Asia-Pacific (including
Middle East and Africa)
Total
2,701
118,394
0 100 200 300 400
000 hours
96,676
Breakdown of HSBC’s contributions
120,741
338,512
US$m
Cash donations 100.9
Employee hours in work time 9.5
Management costs 7.1
Total community investments 117.5
Education
Our long-standing aim is to open doors of opportunity for children by
helping to raise their academic achievement and improve their vocational
skills with formal and informal learning.
Environment
Our aim is to complement our own environmental sustainability
initiatives by helping other organisations and individuals play their part
in addressing climate change. To do this we partner with a number of
environmental organisations, helping them to achieve their goals and
drawing on their expertise to achieve ours.
In 2007, we launched the HSBC Climate Partnership, a five-year
commitment of US$100 million to four leading non-governmental
organisations: The Climate Group, Earthwatch Institute, Smithsonian
Tropical Research Institute and WWF. Their work focuses on rivers,
cities, forest protection and engaging people around the world, including
HSBC employees, in a range of conservation and research projects.
More than 6,700 colleagues from 71 countries and territories have
already signed up to take part.
For further information on our community investments, visit:
www.hsbc.com/sustainability
HSBC Climate Partnership
Environmental targets
• 4.2 million hectares of habitat being managed to
adapt to the impacts of climate change
• 54 species whose decline is reversed or halted
• 140,000 people with improved scientific
understanding of issues as a result of published
research
Social targets
• 42 million people provided with access to
clean water
• 50,000 people whose livelihood has been
improved through better environmental
management
• 1.3 million people with increased flood protection
• 9.1 million people with reduced risk of drought
• 17 million people with more secure water supply
• 110,000 HSBC employees reporting increased
awareness of climate change
Governance targets
• 48 corporations pursuing lower carbon solutions
• 14 city authorities implementing climate change
reduction strategies
• 21 new climate change-related policies adopted
globally
30 HSBC Holdings plc Sustainability Report 2007