Merrill Lynch’s Sustainability Efforts Recognized by Groups, Publications

Published: October 2008

Only a year after formally introducing its Environmental Sustainability initiative, Merrill Lynch has made major progress in developing and bolstering the business impetus for combating climate change and benefiting the environment through carbon emissions mitigation.

The firm’s work has been acknowledged and praised by more than a half-dozen industry publications and organizations over just the past few months, including the Carbon Disclosure Project, The Banker magazine, Environmental Finance magazine and Ceres, North America’s largest environmental coalition.

“The business case for environmental sustainability is vital, and I’m pleased that we’ve made significant progress in a relatively short period of time, and that our work is being recognized,” said MD Colbert Narcisse, chief operating officer of Americas Origination and head of the Environmental Sustainability Working Subcommittee.

In the most recent win, Merrill Lynch was named Most Innovative in Sustainability by The Banker in awards announced in London on October 1. “Innovation is at the core of investment banking and keeps the industry powering ahead,” the magazine said.

The firm's work in sustainability was recognized again when the Carbon Disclosure Project, an organization that provides data on issues related to climate change, released its findings on September 22 of two surveys it took of major corporations and sectors. Merrill Lynch is a founding member and global sponsor of the CDP.

The CDP said that, among the 500 companies in the Standard & Poor’s index, Merrill Lynch finished first in the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index. Not only did the firm make its first appearance in the index, but it captured the top spot, with an overall score of 98, the highest among companies and industries in the low emitter sector.

In looking at the 500 largest companies in the FTSE Global Equity Index Series, the CDP again placed Merrill Lynch in the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index for the first time. The firm again received a score of 98, tying for the overall highest score.

Environmental Finance magazine, a leading publication in the sector, hailed two Merrill Lynch transactions for their environmental excellence. Merrill Lynch’s work to protect forests in Aceh, Indonesia, was named  Carbon Finance Transaction of the Year, while an initial public offering that the firm led for Hansen Transmissions International, a Belgium manufacturer of gearboxes for the wind turbine industry, was cited as  IPO of the Year.

In other accolades, Ceres named Merrill Lynch as a leading investment bank for climate change strategies. The group is a national network of investors, environmental organizations and other public interest groups working to address sustainability challenges.

Merrill Lynch has also been recognized by several financial indices and socially responsible research firms for its leadership in environmental issues.

Among those were the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index; the Domini Social 400, an index sponsored by KLD Research & Analystics, a social research provider; and the FTSE4Good, an index sponsored by the Financial Times.

Merrill Lynch’s Hopewell office complex in Pennington, New Jersey, was honored in early September with a certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB), one of the highest “green” achievements for buildings in the United States and a key benchmark of sustainability.

Among areas the award recognizes are efficient use of energy, water conservation, air quality and recycling. In New Jersey, only one other office site has been awarded the certification.