Citi ups green spending

By Jeremy M. Simon

In the largest commitment so far from Wall Street, Citigroup pledged $50 billion to battle climate change over the next decade.

Citi reported that the number includes almost $10 billion in activities it has already begun.  Additionally, Citi intends to boost to $10 billion from approximately $1 billion the firm's commitment to cut its own greenhouse gas emissions 10 percent by 2011.

Additionally, Citigroup said it has started to advise borrowers on how to make their projects more environmentally sustainable in hopes of lessening the threat posed by future environmental regulation.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Citi is also working to develop credit card rewards programs that allow points to be redeemed for a solar battery charger or a donation to an environmental organization.

This commitment by Citi comes at a time when Wall Street is hurriedly working to capitalize on "green" opportunities -- such as with alternative energy, energy efficiency and carbon emissions trading.

With its announcement, Citi surpasses a March commitment by Bank of America to commit $20 billion over 10 years to support growth of environmentally sustainable business activity.

In January, Citi had introduced a program under which it would plant a tree for every credit card user who switched to paperless statements.

Published: June 1, 2007

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