Your environment

Climate Change

What’s this got to do with a bank?

Climate change is something our customers care passionately about. And so do we. Indeed, environmental issues have been a part of our Ethical Policy for the last 17 years. We know that it is only through our actions and initiatives that we can all make the world a better place for future generations.

Even small changes to your lifestyle can help reduce the impact of climate change. Read our tips on how to make a difference to find out how you can start making a difference today.

The facts and you

The UK Climate Impacts Programme's (UKCIP) climate change scenarios indicate that we can expect the following over the next 100 years:

• Average annual temperature in the UK may rise by up to 3.5 ºC, with average summer temperatures increasing by up to 5.0 ºC.
• The number of very hot summer days is expected to increase and the number of very cold winter days is expected to decrease, snow fall is also expected to decrease.
• The area most likely to experience greater warming is the south of England.
• In the south-east of the UK we could see over 50% less rainfall in summer months and 30% more rainfall in winter.
• Sea levels could rise by as much as 80cm around the UK coast. This will generally be greater in the south in comparison to Scotland because of natural land movement.

Research from UKCIP projects suggests that the impacts of climate change could include increases in the following:

• Health problems - sunburn, heatstroke and dehydration
• Pests and disease
• Subsidence
• Flood risk
• Loss of coastal habitats

For further information please visit the UKCIP website.

The climate change that we expect in the next 30-40 years will be a result of past greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, the climate change we can anticipate later this century will be determined by today's carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions.

Climate change tracker

Working with The UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) we've produced a special online climate change tracker to show you the potential impact of climate change in your region of the country over this century.

How to install our climate change tracker

Windows Vista users can download the climate change tracker to your desktop. To check what operating system your PC is running right click on the desktop icon labelled My Computer and select Properties. Under the General tab you'll find your operating system.

1. Click download (3.5MB)
2. Select 'Open' when prompted to open or save file
3. When security message appears click 'Allow'
4. In your downloads folder double click climatechangetracker.gadget
5. Select 'Install' from the Sidebar screen
6. Climate change tracker will now appear in your Sidebar

Tiny changes – big impacts

By making small changes to your lifestyle you can help stop the impact of global warming on our planet and your world. Read our tips to find out more. All these small changes add up, for example:

• If all the TVs and DVDs standby buttons were switched off, between us we'd save the power equivalent of a large power station's output every year. [Source: Energy Saving Trust]
• If every household installed just one energy saving light bulb, the electricity saved in a year could power the Blackpool Illuminations for nearly 900 years and there would be enough carbon dioxide saved to fill the Royal Albert Hall 1,980 times [Source: Energy Saving Trust]

Our climate change tracker will allow you to see these impacts for yourself.

You can make a difference... make a change today.

How green are you?

Step up to the challenge of our quick ethics quiz "How green are you?" and find out just how environmentally friendly you really are.

Play the game