Cuts in paper purchases and switch to FSC-certified paper supports
    sustainable forestry practices; helps preserve Canada's boreal forest

    TORONTO, May 1 /CNW/ - CIBC (CM: TSX;NYSE) is taking a major step towards
preserving Canada's boreal forest by switching its office paper supply to
FSC-certified paper. This includes copy, printer and fax office paper, and
also client statements, statement envelopes, ABM envelopes, and annual
reports. CIBC also has cut its office paper purchases by 22 per cent since
2004 by implementing environmental best practices.
    "We congratulate CIBC on their commitment to buy FSC," said Steven Price,
Senior Conservation Director, WWF-Canada. "By choosing FSC-certified paper,
CIBC has taken an important step in reducing their corporate environmental
footprint. For paper buyers, FSC is the responsible choice."
    "With this substantial shift to responsible sourcing of paper, CIBC is
making a real difference for Boreal forest conservation," said Alan Young,
Corporate Program Manager for the Canadian Boreal Initiative. "They have
followed through on their commitment to improve their procurement practices
and demonstrated rapid progress where it counts - on the ground. We applaud
their important leadership efforts in this area."
    "CIBC is committed to being an environmentally responsible organization,
as outlined in our Corporate Environmental Policy. Migrating to FSC paper
further demonstrates the effectiveness of our Environmentally Responsible
Procurement Standard released last year, as well as proof of our efforts to
support sustainable forestry practices," said Robert Hughes, CIBC's
vice-president responsible for environmental risk management. "We are also
making strides in reducing our consumption of paper through double-sided
printing and photocopying, and switching to paperless, electronic transactions
for invoicing where possible. Further reductions come from the 'paperless
record-keeping options' we offer our clients for their chequing and savings
accounts."
    On April 1, CIBC switched its office copy, printer, and fax paper to
FSC-certified stock, equivalent to approximately 365 million sheets a year,
across its Canadian operations.

    Annually, CIBC is transitioning to FSC-certified stock:-   203 million sheets of client account statement paper
    -   116 million statement envelopes
    -   76 million ABM envelopesCIBC has printed its annual report on FSC-certified paper since 2006.
    FSC is an international certification and labeling system that guarantees
that purchased forest products come from responsibly managed forests. Under
FSC certification, forests are certified against a set of strict environmental
and social standards, and fibre from certified forests is tracked all the way
to the consumer through the chain of custody certification system. The end
result is products in the marketplace carrying the FSC logo.
    FSC certification helps protect the long-term health of boreal forests
found in Canada, Russia, United States, and Scandinavia. Canada's boreal
forest, which covers more than one-third of our landmass, is the largest
intact forest remaining on the planet, rivaling the Amazon in size and
ecological importance. It stores twice as much carbon per acre as tropical
rainforests, helping to mitigate the effects of climate change.
    At CIBC, we are committed to environmental responsibility and reducing
our environmental footprint. Since 2003, our purchases of green power have
offset approximately 8,400 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO(2)) emissions, the
equivalent of taking nearly 1,700 mid-sized cars off the road. Since 2004, we
have cut our direct CO(2) emissions produced from energy use within our
branches and owned office buildings by 10%, while our bank-wide office paper
purchases are down 22%. In 2007, CIBC's recycling efforts saved the equivalent
of 180,000 trees by recycling 9,705 tonnes of paper products. In 2007, CIBC
diverted from landfills 7,028 pieces of office furniture through reuse
programs and donated 11,027 computer components to schools across Canada. In
2007, CIBC was recognized as "best in class" as one of 68 FT500 companies
globally included in the Carbon Disclosure Project's Climate Disclosure
Leadership Index. The Conference Board of Canada also selected CIBC as one of
16 Canadian corporations designated as CDP 2007 - Canada 200 Carbon Disclosure
Leaders. CIBC is also included on the Dow Jones Sustainability World and North
American Indexes, the FTSE4Good Index, and the Jantzi Social Index.

    CIBC is a leading North American financial institution with nearly
11 million personal banking and business clients. CIBC offers a full range of
products and services through its comprehensive electronic banking network,
branches and offices across Canada, in the United States and around the world.
You can find other news releases and information about CIBC in our Press
Centre on our corporate website at www.cibc.com.