Wednesday, March 13th, 2013, Colombo: DFCC Bank and its retail banking subsidiary DFCC Vardhana Bank (DVB), two of Sri Lanka’s leading banks commit to join millions globally to celebrate Earth Hour on March 23, 2013 at 8.30pm. They will be the first banks in Sri Lanka to pledge their support to this global initiative.
DFCC Bank and DVB remain committed to environment sustainability, as the banking group proudly joins the movement which began in 2007, highlighting the significance of global warming and other environmental issues by encouraging individuals and organisations to turn off all non-essential lights for 60 minutes.
Earth Hour, a global event organised by the World Wildlife Fund asks businesses and households to turn off non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. DFCC and DVB call upon fellow members in the banking sector, businesses and individuals to come together and participate in the largest mass movement to date.
DFCC is a strong advocate of the environment, and has contributed in many ways to its sustainability. Their commitment to the environment was showcased when they pioneered the development of sustainable energy in Sri Lanka by supporting the first private sector grid-connected small hydropower project in the mid 1990’s. Since then the Bank has made steady progress resulting in being recognized as the premier resource centre for developing the country’s renewable energy sector. In addition to this the banking group has been involved in promoting environmental stewardship in schools under the ‘6S implementation in schools project’ which aimed to educated students on the need to conserve the natural environment and minimize negative impacts resulting from human behaviour.
Speaking of the DFCC and DVB’s commitment, Nihal Fonseka, CEO, DFCC Bank stated: ‘‘Supporting Earth Hour is in line with our Corporate Sustainability strategy. We are a banking group that strongly believes in the preservation of the environment; therefore we feel it is in the best interest of our community to serve as an example for the wider society to adopt a sustainable and responsible attitude towards preserving the environment.”
Lakshman Silva, CEO, of DFCC Vardhana Bank, further added: “A select committee at branches island wide will leverage participation on a broader scale in gaining support for Earth Hour by encouraging our employees, customers, their families and friends to pledge their support by switching off and thinking about the environment in their day-to-day lives while adopting habits that aid conservation of our precious resources.”
Earth Hour 2013 plays a strategically integrated approach to embedding sustainability into DFCC and DVB’s core business practices while promoting the culture of sustainability amongst its key stakeholders.
DFCC ranks as one of the country’s top banks with sustained profits and consistent growth. Set up by an act of Parliament in 1955, the Bank has pioneered many innovations in Sri Lanka’s financial sector, and has been the financier of trail blazing Lankan entrepreneurs. Today the DFCC Group’s total asset base is LKR 136.4 billion. DFCC Bank and its retail banking subsidiary DFCC Vardhana Bank together, functions as an effectively integrated entity in the financial services sector offering the full range of business and personal banking services seamlessly through a unified distribution channel of 129 branches and extension offices; and includes 70 service units across the Sri Lanka Post network.