Waterkeeper Alliance and HSBC today announced a $250,000 grant that will support the Waterkeeper Alliance mission of keeping critical local waterways clean and protected in cities across the United States.
Waterkeeper Alliance is the largest and fastest growing non-profit solely focused on clean water. The organization’s mission is to preserve and protect water by connecting local Waterkeeper Organizations and Affiliates worldwide, with a goal of drinkable, fishable, swimmable water everywhere.
HSBC has had a long-standing commitment to the issue of water. The HSBC Water Programme—currently entering its seventh year—partners with Earthwatch, WaterAid, and WWF as well as local project partners. It aims to provide and protect water sources and inform and educate communities about the role water plays in enabling people to prosper and driving economic development.
Waterkeeper Alliance was the ideal local project partner to help U.S.-based HSBC employees to advance understanding of water issues and how they relate to HSBC Bank USA operations and business, as well as to support the direct engagement of thousands of employees in water conservation projects nationwide.
HSBC will also act as a sponsor of the global 2018 Waterkeeper Alliance Conference, to be held June 6-9, 2018, in Buffalo, NY More than 3,000 HSBC employees live and work in the Buffalo region, and on June 9, nearly 100 HSBC employees will join other volunteers from the Western New York region for a city-wide service project to clean waterways and access to Lake Erie.
The volunteers will be doing their part to address a major global issue of plastic waste polluting critical bodies of water. Nearly one-third (32%) of the 78 million tons of plastic packaging produced annually flows into the world’s oceans, the equivalent of pouring one garbage truck of plastic into the ocean every minute, according to a study by the World Economic Forum, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and McKinsey and Company.
Kelly W. Fisher, head of corporate sustainability for HSBC Bank USA, said “To date, over 8,000 HSBC employees have been trained as Citizen Science Leaders to conduct water testing and research. We are tremendously excited now to partner with Waterkeeper Alliance to empower these same employees to become hands-on stewards of their local waterways.”
“We are grateful for the support of HSBC and their dedication to the community of Buffalo, NY,” said Marc Yaggi, executive director of Waterkeeper Alliance. “Thanks to their contribution, the waters of the Buffalo Niagara watershed are one step closer to being drinkable, fishable, and swimmable.”