Corporation and banks are all trying to climb the path to sustainability – but who will succeed, and how much of it is just hot air?
Banking on sustainability
Financial organisations that implement social and environmental management policies into their business strategy are making their businesses more valuable, according to a report from the International Finance Corporation.
Banking on Sustainability considered 14 financial institutions – 12 commercial banks, a leasing company and a microfinance institute – in emerging markets and found that not one of the financial institutions reported a negative impact after implementing a policy. In fact, the majority stated that the benefits of implementing a policy outweighed the costs.
The 14 organisations surveyed act as case studies, and through this the report, aim to share expertise; to describe innovative financial products that can help banks expand their business in areas related to social and environmental sustainability; and demonstrate the positive business impact of integrating policies. The key finding of the survey was that “individual banks must devise their own unique business case for sustainable banking” and that this is determined by an individual company’s goals, as well as the trends in the specific market where the bank operates.
The FT Sustainable Banking Awards will take place on June 7 and will recognise banks that have proved to be innovative in integrating social, environmental and corporate governance objectives into their operations. The Financial Times has received 151 entries from more than 100 banks in 51 countries and the judging panel for the awards has drawn up the shortlists.
There are five awards – sustainable bank of the year, emerging markets sustainable bank of the year, sustainable bankers of the year, sustainable deal of the year, and achievement in carbon finance.
The shortlist for most sustainable bank of the year includes ABN AMRO, Bank Sarasin, Barclays, HSBC and Standard Chartered.
The awards ceremony will follow the FT Sustainable Banking Conference also on June 7 at The Landmark in London.
SustainAbility and WWF launched the One Planet Business programme at the end of March, which aims to bring together business leaders, policy makers, investors, consumer groups and NGOs for one year.
The goal of the stakeholder engagement is to explore the changes that have to happen for the world’s market economies to be sustainable. The discussions will take place in phases with the first focussing on mobility and then being followed by other issues around consumption such as housing and food, and stakeholders will examine what changes would be most effective in slowing down the rate of global consumption and “reducing global overshoot”.
The thinking behind the programme is that business and its stakeholders must share the responsibility for operating within the ecological limits of one planet and that the existing market systems are flawed as they do not take these limits into account as they strive for progress.
The Co-operative Group has won the Queen’s Award for Sustainable Development, making it the largest company by far to win the award this year. The award recognises companies that have integrated environmental, social, economic and management aspects of sustainable development into their business.
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