More cost-cutting at RBS … this time to save the planet

By PETER RANSCOMBE
Published on 09/04/2012 00:00

ROYAL Bank of Scotland is cutting its travel budget, reducing paper usage and casting an eye over its electricity bills as it attempts to save £200 million in costs before 2020.

Chief executive Stephen Hester said the new environmental targets were part of efforts to show that the bank is changing. He added that big businesses such as RBS have a “duty” to save precious resources.

The targets have already seen an annual meeting of about 300 senior executives from around the world being held online instead of in person.

RBS aims to cut the amount of carbon dioxide emissions produced when its staff travel by 50 per cent by 2020 compared with 2011 levels. It also wants to halve the amount of paper it uses across its branches and offices by 2020.

Publishing the targets marks the first time that the bank has made public its cost-saving targets, although figures have previously been used for internal purposes. Sefton Laing, group head of environment, said that the targets covered RBS’s worldwide operations and not just its businesses in the UK.