Comerica Bank

Honoree: Enterprise – Financial Services Industry

Company Overview

Comerica Bank is a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and is among the 25 largest financial holding companies in the United States. Comerica Bank focuses on helping people and businesses be successful. In addition to Texas, Comerica Bank locations can be found in Arizona, California, Florida, and Michigan, with select businesses operating in several other states, as well as in Canada and Mexico. Comerica Bank is strategically aligned into three major business segments: Business Banking, Retail Banking, and Wealth Management. At the foundation of their financial services, Comerica Bank encourages energy efficiency and environmental stewardship within every unit of their business.

Sustainable Business Strategy

At Comerica Bank, they believe that the prosperity and well-being of the people, businesses, and communities they serve depend on sustained access to natural resources. These natural resources are provided by a healthy environment, and social and human resources are provided by thriving communities. They believe that the efficient use of natural resources is key to a sustainable future.

Comerica Bank’s Environmental Policy Statement outlines their business’ commitment to reducing climate change business risks while identifying new business opportunities that help mitigate the impacts of rising global temperatures. Each year, they track the progress of the environmental sustainability topics that are most relevant to their business, including greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), water, waste and paper use, environmentally-beneficial (green) lending, environmentally responsible procurement, and sustainability engagement/communication. As of December 31^st, 2018, Comerica Bank has invested $772 million in green loans and environmental commitments. They report that their return on conservation (including smart controls and upgraded lighting), helped them save more than $2.2 million in utility costs through 2017 and 2018. On top of this, they have seen a 43.5% reduction in greenhouse gases, 27.6% reduction in water consumption, 29.1% reduction in landfill waste, and a 48.5% reduction in office copy paper usage. In 2018, Comerica Bank decreased its direct and indirect energy consumption in facilities by 7,172 MWh, or 6%, from 2017. As a result of their conservation efforts, they were selected as one of Barron’s 100 Most Sustainable Companies in the U.S. in 2018 and are in The Climate Registry for Excellence in Greenhouse Gas Management.

Environmental Stewardship

From employees working to reduce their resource consumption and relationship managers supporting green businesses, to their leadership and commitment to seeing that Comerica Bank continues to advance their sustainability initiatives, every staff member at Comerica Bank plays an important part in achieving their sustainability successes. In addition to their Corporate Sustainability Office, they utilize several key teams that drive their sustainability progress. These teams include business leaders from across all areas of their organization that serve on Sustainability Council, partner with purchasing to address supply chain sustainability, work with real estate groups, and lead and participate in their green office teams.

Promoting Stewardship

Comerica Bank employees engage in sustainability through their Master of Sustainability Awareness (MSA) Program. Designed in-house, this program equips Comerica Bank employees with the knowledge and skills needed to lead a more sustainable life, both at home and in the office.

Conservation Programs

Controlling Emissions

Comerica Bank addresses their environmental commitments by addressing their environmental footprint as well as serving their employees and communities. Comerica Bank set a goal to reduce their GHGs 20% by 2020. At year-end 2018, they had already hit a 43.5% GHG reduction and plan to continue to reduce their emissions even further. Comerica Bank believes that understanding climate issues requires longer term thinking. As such, Comerica Bank has established GHG reduction goals for 2025 and 2030, and have a 2050 goal of reducing GHG by 100%.

Shred Days

Comerica Shred Days are a signature community event in both Dallas and Houston. At these annual events, they partner with Iron Mountain to collect and securely recycle sensitive paper documents at no cost. In 2019, nearly 6,000 cars drove through their events, and more than 600,000 pounds (300 tons) of paper was recycled after being collected, shredded, and turned back into pulp. In addition, participants of Shred Day donated over 17,500 pounds of food and nearly $42,000 to both the North Texas Food Bank and the Houston Food Bank. Since 2011, Texas Shred Days have collected over 4 million pounds of paper and have provided the equivalent of 700,000 meals to Texas residents. These triple bottom line events help protect people from identity theft, support environmental preservation, and serve their most vulnerable community members.

Building a Sustainable Future

Comerica Bank believes that in the U.S., businesses will continue to lead on sustainability initiatives. Their role in this is to support that leadership through both reductions in their own environmental footprint and perhaps even more importantly, supporting customers as they green their operations and work in new areas that address a greening economy. Partnerships between business, governments, and community organizations will also continue to play an important role in aligning goals and executing programs to protect and preserve the environment. Finally, education will play a role that is paramount to ensuring a future with a thriving, strong economy, equitable communities, and a flourishing environment.

Texan-Led Conservation

Comerica Bank has a long history of supporting their customers in Texas, and relocated their corporate headquarters to Dallas in 2007. Being headquartered in Texas has allowed Comerica Bank greater accessibility to all of their markets (Texas, Michigan, Arizona, California, and Florida) while advancing their strategy of diversifying their customer base and extending their reach into key high-growth markets. Comerica Bank considers Texas an amazingly diverse environment, and that reducing their footprint at locations throughout the state helps to conserve both these precious natural resources and the state’s environment.