HSBC says it is working with The Climate Group, Earthwatch Institute, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and WWF on a new five-year, US$100 million partnership concentrated on climate change.

While cities like London and New York will receive focus, Chinese cities like Hong Kong and Shanghai will also be recipients of aid and research. Money will also help protect some of the world's major rivers, including the Yangtze, from the impacts of climate change.

"The HSBC Climate Partnership will achieve something profoundly important. By working with four of the world's most respected environmental organizations and creating a 'green taskforce' of thousands of HSBC employees worldwide, we believe we can tackle the causes and impacts of climate change," said Paul Lawrence, president and CEO, HSBC Bank USA. "Over the next five years HSBC will make responding to climate change central to our business operations and at the heart of the way we work with our clients across the world."

HSBC's US$100 million partnership, including the largest donations to each of these charities and the largest donation ever made by a British company, has significant program targets and offers transformational support for the environmental charities. The donation will help to deliver increased capacity, help the charities to expand across new countries and research sites, and increase their access to more people.

John Donoghue, senior vice president of resources for WWF said, "WWF is pleased to be continuing its collaboration with HSBC. Climate change, poor management and waste mean that water supplies around the world are more and more stressed. The HSBC Climate Partnership will help WWF work towards better management of global water supplies, improve water security for about 450 million people, and reduce the impact of climate change on some of the world's most important rivers, including the Amazon, Ganges, Thames and Yangtze."