First Bank Takes the Lead! Advancing Sustainability with Wonder Greener

What kind of sustainable spark can ignite when finance meets grass fields?

As businesses balance profit and sustainability, how can they translate their sustainability reports into meaningful, diversified impact?

As a leader in Taiwan’s financial sector, First Bank integrates its core business with environmental sustainability, biodiversity, climate change, and environmental education. Its initiatives include creating habitats for Taipei’s brown frogs, researching blue carbon in the Pacific Ocean, collaborating with Taipei Zoo on the “Endangered Species Storyhouse,” and launching an urban bird-window collision prevention campaign.

Starting in 2025, First Bank partners with Wonder Greener to launch an innovative plastic reduction program—demonstrating how the financial industry can deeply engage in environmental and social sustainability. Through eco-friendly farming, they fulfill their corporate ESG commitments and inspire public participation in this vital movement.

First Bank’s collaboration with Wonder Greener goes beyond traditional beach cleanups and tree planting. Together, they have launched the meaningful Taiwan Grass Farm Adoption Project in Yuanshan, Yilan.

This partnership stems from First Bank’s deep commitment to biodiversity and its ongoing support for international decarbonization efforts. The bank not only incorporates nature and biodiversity into its credit evaluation but also offers a full range of green financial products, including green loans, green bonds, and green credit cards, guiding customers toward a sustainable, green transformation.

Why Grass Straw? A Financial Giant’s Vision

First Bank firmly believes that expanding the impact of biodiversity and plastic reduction starts with nature-based solutions. Lepironia, a seemingly modest plant, has been transformed by Wonder Greener’s innovative craftsmanship from a simple crop into a powerful eco-friendly straw.

First Bank recognizes the potential of grass fields for sustainable local farming and sees this as an opportunity to change straw-waste habits while fostering engagement within local communities.

Choosing to support Grass Straw is more than just a line in First Bank’s corporate sustainability report—it’s a tangible, multidimensional action toward fulfilling their ESG commitments.

• Implementing Corporate Sustainability Actions:
  As one of the first financial institutions to focus on replacing plastic straws with Grass Straws, First Bank actively participates in biodiversity surveys of the grass farm, evaluates the plastic reduction benefits of Grass Straws, and contributes to the development of soil yellow carbon sequestration methodologies. These efforts provide robust and comprehensive data to support their ESG reports, CDP submissions, and various environmental sustainability awards—demonstrating a diversified and in-depth corporate sustainability profile.
• Fostering Corporate Local Collaboration:
  By consistently supporting grass cultivation, First Bank directly aids local farmers, providing them with economic security and ensuring that environmentally friendly farming practices are used in the grass farm. These tangible results also contribute back to the bank’s environmental education programs, employee training, and supplier engagement—effectively amplifying its impact on environmental sustainability.
• Creating an Environmentally Friendly Base:
  The adopted grass farm is cultivated without herbicides, pesticides, or insecticides, protecting both farmers’ health and the purity of the land. First Bank has introduced imaging technology, heavy metal testing, biodiversity surveys, and improved farming techniques to scientifically monitor the health of the site. Looking ahead, this farm will also serve as a key base for developing carbon sequestration methodologies, further advancing First Bank’s carbon offset initiatives.

Beyond Adoption: Building a Shared Sustainable Ecosystem

First Bank’s collaboration with Wonder Greener goes beyond traditional sponsorship. It holds a deep respect for the land and a shared vision for a greener future. By adopting grass farm, First Bank not only supports local agriculture and eco-friendly products but also actively contributes to building a sustainable ecosystem. This partnership demonstrates how the power of finance can truly become a driving force for a better planet.