We believe that we must lead by example while working toward a world free of poverty as efficiently and safely as possible. Managing and reducing our environmental impact is essential to the World Bank’s commitment to supporting sustainable development and is therefore part of our corporate programs and initiatives in our offices and communities in which World Bank facilities are located.

The World Bank Group president announced the Bank’s commitment to corporate social responsibility in 2002. This initiated an active program to minimize the negative environmental impact from facilities and day-to-day business practices. Through these efforts, we seek to strengthen environmental awareness among staff, clients, partners, and vendors. We also act as an environmentally responsible neighbor and good corporate citizen in Washington, D.C., and globally. Efforts have been identified and implemented over time to make the Bank’s offices and business processes more efficient and to reduce the institution’s carbon footprint. Leading by example has both lowered costs and enhanced the institution’s reputation with clients and other stakeholders, such as investors with a social, environmental, and governance focus.

This section of the Corporate Responsibility website walks you through our priorities to reduce the corporate environmental footprint of the World Bank’s internal operations, reviewing the accomplishments of the year, and the path forward. It builds on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) indicators associated with environment, as well as key economic (EC2), social (HR2), and public agency (PA11, 13) indicators.

For information on the World Bank’s operational work on environment and climate change, please click on the links provided.