Bank of America pledges 15 percent emissions reduction

Banking giant Bank of America Corp. pledged Wednesday it would curb greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent by 2015.

That’s a pretty big footprint when you consider Charlotte, N.C.-based BofA operates in more than 40 countries. The environmental measures would also apply to the bank’s global ventures, including Countrywide and Merrill Lynch.

Bank of America says it will have 20 percent of its corporate workplace real estate portfolio certified under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program by 2015.

The bank has been a participant in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Leaders program. The EPA is phasing out that program by year end. Bank of America will work with Carbon Disclosure Project, a non-profit organization that claims the largest database of global corporate climate change information.

From 2004 to 2009, the bank cut emissions by 18 percent, under the EPA program.

Read more in the Charlotte Business Journal.