20 April 2012: The African Development Bank’s Green Bank Initiative has reported that it has achieved positive results through large savings in water, energy and paper use.

Implemented in 2007, the Green Bank Initiative was intended to assist in reducing the AfDB’s impact on the environment throughout all departments and activities. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) assisted the AfDB in its endeavour through providing a technical report and baseline study of the AfDB’s resource use. Since then, annual savings in energy use have equated to 91 tons of oil or 565 tons of CO2 emissions. Other savings include: approximately 14 million litres of water between 2007 and 2011; 48 tons of paper per year; and approximately 13000 items recycled annually. [AfDB Press Release]