Alliance Finance goes beyond Earth Hour with AFC Green Pledge

Alliance Finance, a leading non-banking financial institution, has pledged to take the Earth Hour beyond the 60 minutes by engaging the youth of Sri Lanka in a unique and innovative project. As a token of their commitment to go beyond the official earth hour, AFC has taken upon itself to make a sustainable pledge to help preserve the planet through their AFC Green Pledge.

In keeping with their recent focus to become a triple bottom line financial institution, the board of directors with the senior management and staff across the 66 branches island-wide took the first step of making their personal pledges to protect the environment by managing the consumption of energy and other non-renewable resources such as water. This was formalised as a symbolic gesture with each staff member making their pledge in writing around the new AFC Green Pledge logo as seen in the picture.

As a part of this unique initiative, Alliance Finance will donate Rs. 200,000 to a deserving school in a rural area, if 15 schools in and around Colombo successfully rollout a ‘green project’ by December 2013.

The company has already initiated a rollout within 15 Colombo schools using an ‘I will if you Will’ challenge. The schools enter a competition with their own green project, aiming for a cash prize of Rs. 50,000. This competition will not only get the younger generation to care about their planet, but also encourage creative and innovative ideas to flow freely and these youngsters would be encouraged to recognise and evaluate a sustainable project and propagate ideas for a greener planet beyond the 15 schools.

Alliance Finance’s commitment to environment sustainability goes beyond engaging in activities that manage consumption of energy and other non-renewable resources. The company’s environmental sustainability sphere also encompasses the very nature of its product offering to contribute to the well-being of the planet.

Among the many products created by AFC that incorporate environmental protection is environment friendlier ‘three-wheeler financing’. As a pioneer in financing three-wheelers, AFC identified the potential available in Sri Lanka for gas-converted three-wheelers that are capable of mitigating the environmental damage caused by harmful emissions.

Current estimates put the number of three-wheelers operating in Sri Lanka at around 600,000. Using proprietary Dutch technology incorporating an inexpensive ECU controlled direct LPG injection system, the triple bottom line three wheelers launched by the company save 25% in terms of fuel consumption and reduce harmful emissions by almost 30% over their petrol counterparts whilst offering consistent and reliable performance in all conditions.

Alliance Finance has secured the exclusive commercial rights for this technology and intends expanding its pilot project to cover a greater geographic area in the country shortly.