News Releases
TORONTO, December 19, 2008 – BMO Financial Group has become the first financial institution in Canada to achieve certification for the internationally recognized standard ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems.
The certification has been
awarded for BMO's implementation of
a rigorous environmental management system at its leased 19-floor office
tower located at 55 Bloor St. West in downtown Toronto. In order to achieve
ISO 14001 certification, companies must identify all activities that
have the potential to impact the environment and put programs in place
to reduce or eliminate those impacts.
“We are very excited to have achieved ISO 14001 certification for our
operations,” says Michael Thornburrow, Senior Vice President,
Corporate Real Estate and Strategic Sourcing, BMO Financial Group and
executive sponsor of the initiative. “Being an environmentally
conscious organization is a top priority for us. I look forward to
building on our success by applying what we have learned to other facilities
across BMO.”
“One of the key requirements of achieving certification was ensuring our employees could show a high level of environmental awareness and knowledge of the program, and BMO's environmental policy,” said Jim Johnston, Director, Environmental Sustainability, BMO Financial Group. “Our employees really stepped up to the challenge. They demonstrated an understanding of how our actions impact the environment, and will be instrumental in our ongoing effort to improve.”
BMO and the Environment:
- In September 2008, BMO's CEO Bill Downe announced that BMO will seek to achieve carbon neutrality by 2010 across our enterprise – worldwide. To reach this goal, BMO intends to reduce net emissions related to energy consumption and transportation to zero within two years. And BMO is committed to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 5 per cent over this period.
- BMO has been a leader in reducing its non-renewable energy consumption. All newly opened branches (57, so far, in Ontario and Alberta) are powered from renewable sources of electricity (where available) such as Bullfrog Power. Last year, BMO purchased 5,000 megawatt hours of electricity from renewable sources, and it expects to increase that commitment significantly over the next two years. BMO recently contracted with Bullfrog for an additional 3,300 MWh of clean energy, raising the total to more than 8,300 MWh, making BMO the leading purchaser of electricity among financial institutions on the bullfrogpoweredTM green index. This is enough renewable energy to power nearly 100 BMO branches.
- BMO is a long-time signatory and respondent to the Carbon Disclosure Project. BMO has been named as one of two Canadian banks in its Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index for 2008.
- BMO is listed on both the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (North America) and FTSE4Good Series Index.
- BMO has appeared on Corporate Knights Magazine's Best 50 Corporate Citizens list every year since 2003.
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