ABSTRACT
A system of metrics and reporting with cross-comparable indicators is precisely the management tool that will allow banks to measure the link between environmental performance and shareholder value. A system of metrics and reporting with cross-comparable indicators is precisely the management tool that will allow banks to measure the link between environmental performance and shareholder value. For banks specifically, this scenario would mean that they move from perceiving the environment as a 'risk' to an 'opportunity' to improve both short- and long-term profitability. Many banks are looking beyond the liability issue and instead finding opportunities to make new business and even to create new markets. The ultimate goal of eco-efficiency is to grow economies qualitatively—in other words, to provide more value rather than to transform materials and energy into more waste. So far, individual companies have tended to develop their own measurements of their eco-efficiency performance; these differ greatly between companies and even more so between sectors.
