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RBC launches $50 million Blue Water Project and unveils
global Environmental Blueprint
Largest charitable commitment in company's history
TORONTO, October 24, 2007 — RBC today announced the
creation of the RBC Blue Water Project™, an innovative
10-year, $50 million grant program to support projects dedicated
to water conservation, watershed protection, access to clean
drinking water, and other water-related issues in Canada and
around the world. This is the largest charitable commitment
ever in the company's history.
"Lack of access to clean fresh water is considered to
be one of the major threats to human health and economic development
around the world. The demands on this limited resource continue
to grow, even in Canada, where we have one of the world's
largest supplies of freshwater," said Gordon Nixon, president
and CEO, RBC. "This is an urgent global humanitarian
crisis, and is becoming an economic crisis, in both developed
and developing nations, if industries that need fresh water
for their operations can't find it."
The RBC Blue Water Project will have three grant streams:
- Visionary Grants: multi-year grants to global organizations
that show vision, foresight and innovation to support programs
around the world, and within Canada;
- Leadership Grants: annual grants given to organizations
that are leaders in providing regional programs within North
America, determined through a 'request for proposal' process;
and
- Community Action Grants: ongoing grants given to community-based
organizations in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean
to support local water conservation projects.
To kick off the RBC Blue Water Project, RBC will announce
its first grant recipient on October 29. Then, a panel of
experts will be assembled to develop the overall granting
strategy and guidelines. The RBC Blue Water Project will be
fully operational in April, 2008.
RBC today also unveiled its Environmental Blueprint™
that formalizes the company's longstanding commitment to environmental
sustainability.
The Blueprint includes RBC's commitments to reduce its environmental
footprint and outlines how the company will approach new and
emerging environmental issues in its business activities.
"RBC introduced its first environmental policy 15 years
ago, and since then, we have worked to reduce our footprint
and integrate environmental sustainability into activities
such as lending and procurement," said Mr. Nixon. "This
Environmental Blueprint builds on our past efforts formalizing
RBC's global policy and priorities, and provides a roadmap
to guide our future actions."
The RBC Environmental Blueprint includes the company's revised
environmental policy, originally drafted in 1991, and takes
into consideration new and emerging issues related to climate
change, biodiversity, forests, the rights of indigenous peoples
and water. RBC consulted a number of environmental organizations
in the development of the Blueprint, including WWF-Canada
and The Ethical Funds Company.
"We appreciate the input provided by these and other
stakeholders, and acknowledge that our Blueprint is a living
document that we will need to continue to review and adapt
over time," said Mr. Nixon.
RBC is recognized among the world's financial, social and
environmental leaders. In 2007, RBC was named Canada's Best
Corporate Citizen, and is included on the Dow Jones World
and North American Sustainability Indices, the Jantzi Social
Index, the FTSE4Good Index, and the Global 100 Most Sustainable
Corporations ranking. In 2007, Newsweek magazine ranked RBC
first among large corporations worldwide for its ability to
manage environmental risks and opportunities. RBC contributed
more than $83 million to community causes worldwide in 2006,
through donations of more than $42 million, and an additional
$41 million in sponsorship of community events and organizations.
The company produces an annual Corporate Responsibility Report
outlining its sustainability performance.
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