The Commercial Bank of Ceylon won the Gold as Sri Lanka’s ‘Green Brand of the Year’ at the 2024 Brand Excellence Awards of the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) in a fitting recognition of the Bank’s uncompromising commitment to sustainability.
The award recognises the substantial investments and noteworthy progress the Bank has made in advancing the cause of sustainability beyond its own operations to encompass nationally significant initiatives that engage with communities across the country.
Prominent among these initiatives was the launch in 2023, and the completion in just 12 months, of the planting of 100,000 trees in ecologically important locations under the Bank’s ‘Trees for Tomorrow’ programme, and the Bank’s commitment to plant another 100,000.
Sri Lanka’s first carbon-neutral bank – an achievement of 2021 – Commercial Bank’s sustainability journey began 25 years ago and has steadily gained momentum over the last four years. It has generated several sustainability-linked firsts for the Bank as well as the country.
In the year assessed for the SLIM Green Brand of the Year award, Commercial Bank reduced its CO2 emissions by a further 233,918 tonnes, reduced paper usage by 47.57%, recycled 286,240 kgs of paper, and increased the number of branches powered by solar energy to 82.
Among other significant achievements of the year was the launch of Sri Lanka’s first Green Home Loans scheme and surpassing 1 million customers for its flagship ComBank Digital app, promoting sustainable banking practices.
Notably, Commercial Bank commenced 2024 with the launch of its evolved logo featuring a green element to represent the Bank’s multifaceted commitment to sustainability, encompassing diversity, inclusivity, good governance, transparency, social equity, accountability and eco-friendly banking solutions.
The Bank is currently collaborating with several organisations including the University of Jaffna, the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and Preserving Land and Nature (Guarantee) Ltd, or PLANT, an initiative of the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) for tree planting and reforestation projects in areas as diverse as Jaffna and Kilinochchi, Kalutara and Maskeliya.
Commercial Bank also joined the ‘Life to our coral reefs’ initiative of Biodiversity Sri Lanka (BSL), in 2023 to support to an effort to conserve the Kayankerni marine sanctuary located between Panichankerni and Kalkuda in the Batticaloa District.
Other noteworthy environment-related projects supported by the Commercial Bank are the reforestation of a 100-hectare swath of degraded habitat belonging to the Kandegama forest in the Dimbulagala range of the Polonnaruwa District, a mangrove restoration project in Koggala, a marine turtle conservation initiative in Panama, a partnership with Biodiversity Sri Lanka (BSL) to maintain a stretch of beach in Kalutara and numerous beach clean-up projects conducted by large numbers of the Bank’s staff across Sri Lanka.
These initiatives of the Bank have paved the way to build a green brand in terms of targeted above-the-line and below-the-line communications to its stakeholders, inspiring them to also be part of the Bank’s journey and the building of a strong green brand.
Commercial Bank is the first Sri Lankan bank listed among the Top 1000 Banks of the World and has the highest market capitalization in the Banking Sector in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). The Bank is the largest lender to Sri Lanka’s SME sector and is a leader in digital innovation. Commercial Bank operates a strategically located network of branches and automated machines island-wide. It has the widest international footprint among Sri Lankan banks, with 20 outlets in Bangladesh, a Microfinance company in Myanmar, and a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake in the Maldives. The Bank’s fully-owned subsidiary CBC Finance Ltd. also delivers various financial services via its branch network.
Photo caption:
Representatives of Commercial Bank’s Marketing team accepting the award.
