Cheeky Eugreen upsets 'green bank'

Nedbank is green with anger. The bank is unhappy about a parody advertisement that derides its environmental credentials.

The advert, which is on YouTube, was released by environmental organisation 350 Africa.org. It shows comedian Eugene (Khosa) as "Eugreen", and painted lime green. Eugreen visits his grandmother, whose house is in the shadow of a power station. He begins to cough and decides to see a doctor.

The voice-over talks about looking after Eugreen's "money babies", then changes tune, saying: "Dirty banks like Nedbank finance coal, oil and gas while pretending to be green."

Ferrial Adam, who is leading 350 Africa's Fossil Free Africa campaign, said the ad was part of an effort to get banks to disclose their fossil fuel investments in Africa and to highlight the dangers of such fuels.

"Having solar panels on ATMs is not enough. Are they a green bank or a green-washing bank?"

Nedbank said its green strategy was multifaceted and was based on sustainability, which included access to education, healthcare and basic services . such as "water, sanitation and electricity within environmental constraints".

"Nedbank fully supports the diversification of our electricity supply, and has committed R25-billion, over a four-year period, in support of these projects."