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HSBC Funds Largest Ever Field Experiment on Impact of Climate Change on Forests
By Keith R | March 10, 2007
Topics: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Corporate Social Responsibility, Economics & the Environment, Environmental Protection | No Comments »
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) has announced a five-year, US$8 million donation to the Panama-based Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) to create the largest ever field experiment in studying the long-term impact of global climate change on the world’s forests. The donation will allow STRI to dramatically expand its Center for Tropical Forest Science into a coordinated Global Earth Observatory (GEO) system of research partners to encompass 20 large-scale (up to 50 hectares) research plots in the tropical and temperate forests of 20 countries.
HSBC is the largest bank in Panama and one of Latin America’s largest financial services groups. In announcing the initiative during a visit to Panama, HSBC Group Chairman Stephen Green said: “We know the success of our business in the long term depends on a stable environment. We believe that by supporting this research we will more fully understand the risks and business opportunities presented by climate change and the Smithsonian Institute is the best-equipped and experienced organization of this kind to help us understand how our global environment is changing.”
STRI is the only portion of the Smithsonian located outside US borders. It has been studying tropical rainforest ecology and other biodiversity issues in Panama for nearly 100 years.
STRI’s Director, Dr. Ira Rubinoff, said: “The new Global Earth Observatories are based on the longest running standardized forest monitoring program, covering all the major tropical rainforest areas of the world. HSBC’s donation will enable the Smithsonian to deliver key scientific data in the hands of decision makers responsible for global carbon policy and the water management of the Panama Canal.”
The HSBC grant (the largest corporate grant ever to the STRI) will enable the Institute and its new GEO network to:
- Introduce carbon measurement in the existing research plots, for the first time creating global measures to illustrate the role tropical forests play in carbon storage;
- Compare (for the first time) the changes in tropical and temperate forests on a large scale and with standardized methods, in the process monitoring some three million trees representing approximately 8,000 species (more than 10 times the number of tree species in all of Europe and North America combined); and
- Create the largest ever field experiment on the role of forests in regulating the quality and quantity of water flow in the Panama Canal, arguably the most important watershed for world commerce.
HSBC is unabashed about stressing the linkage it sees between this ecological research and protecting the Panamanian economy and international trade. As Joseph Salteiro, CEO of HSBC Bank (Panama), put it: “This project is critical to Panama. The Canal is the lifeblood of the country and we know this economic engine could be threatened by changing rainfall patterns. The Canal supports a large amount of international trade and therefore is vital to international commerce.” [68% of cargo going to the US passes through the Canal.]
Tags: cambio climático, carbon storage, Climate Change, HSBC, Panama, Panama Canal, Smithsonian Institution, STRI, tropical forests