The bank made this known at an event to mark this year’s
World Environment Day 2021.
Managing Director of the Bank, Tony Okpanachi, in his
message to the staff at the series of events organized to celebrate the day,
highlighted some of the various challenges that the environment is facing and
said that DBN, will continue to prioritize and focus on issues of
sustainability essentially, aimed at addressing some of these challenges.
According to him, “The World Environment Day is a day set
aside by the United Nations to raise awareness on and take action against
various environmental issues such as marine pollution, human overpopulation,
global warming, sustainable consumption, and wildlife crime.
“We, as a Bank, will continue to align our operations with
issues of sustainability by focusing on issues that put our environment at
risk.”
He said this year’s theme of “Ecosystem Restoration” is a
call on everyone – governments, corporate organizations, and individuals to
participate in growing trees, greening cities, rewilding gardens, changing
diets, or cleaning up rivers and coasts.
“We are embracing this theme by contributing to the greening
of our immediate environments in Lagos and Abuja,” he said.
Okpanachi stated that by partnering with a local design and
architecture firm, the bank is contributing to research on reusable materials.
He added, “It is our vision that this body of work will
enable MSMEs across Nigeria to innovate and use available local materials as a
source of wealth generation,”
World Environment Day is celebrated annually and is the
United Nations’ principal vehicle for encouraging awareness and action for the
protection of the environment.
It was first held in 1974 and has since then, been
acknowledged as a global platform for raising awareness on environmental
issues.
It provides an opportunity for businesses, non-government
organizations, communities, governments, and celebrities to advocate and pursue
environmental causes. Over 143 countries participate in this celebration
annually.