Product details

Bank of America (BoA), a global leader in corporate and investment banking, provided a wide range of products and services related to banking, investment, asset management, financial and risk management. BoA believed that through its lending practices and commercial banking services it could reduce carbon emissions. BoA aimed to reduce carbon emissions by adopting green technology in the banking operations and by encouraging its customers to use renewable energy. During 2010, BoA saved 36 million gallons of water by reducing water consumption in the banking activities. In the same period, BoA reduced 24,960 metric tonnes of carbondioxide by using renewable energy and energy saving technologies. During 2010 BoA also invested $3.9 billion in coal companies and $590 million in 'renewables and other low-carbon energy projects' and in May 2011 BoA had framed a new carbon emission policy to reduce its carbon emissions by 15% by 2015. BoA invested huge amounts of money in the coal industry and it believed that investment in the coal industry would not affect the environment. But experts opined that the investment in the coal industry was harmful to the environment and it would release more carbon emissions contributing to greater global warming. Nevertheless, the bank invested huge amounts of money in the coal projects compared to the investment in the renewable energy projects. As such, it remained to be seen whether BoA would be able to reduce carbon emissions by implementing its new carbon emission policy. The case study analyses the growth of BoA in the US and emerging economies and BoA’s environmental responsibility measures and whether BoA would be able to maintain environmental sustainability through implementing its new carbon emission policy.