Swedbank makes climate action and sustainability central to its business through Principles for Responsible Banking
Swedbank became on 22 September one of the Founding Signatories of the Principles for Responsible Banking, committing to strategically align its business with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
By signing the Principles for Responsible Banking, Swedbank joins a coalition of 130 banks worldwide, representing over USD 47 trillion in assets, in committing to taking on a crucial role in helping to achieve a sustainable future.
Taking place at the start of the UN General Assembly, the official launch of the Principles for Responsible Banking marked the beginning of the most significant partnership to date between the global banking industry and the UN. “The UN Principles for Responsible Banking are a guide for the global banking industry to respond to, drive and benefit from a sustainable development economy. The Principles create the accountability that can realize responsibility, and the ambition that can drive action.” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the launch event, attended by the 130 Founding Signatories and over 45 of their CEOs.
As expressed in the Principles for Responsible Banking, Swedbank is convinced that “only in an inclusive society founded on human dignity, equality and the sustainable use of natural resources can our clients, customers and businesses thrive”.
By signing up to the Principles, we commit to “using our products, services and relationships to support and accelerate the fundamental changes in our economies and lifestyles necessary to achieve shared prosperity for both current and future generations”.
The Principles for Responsible Banking are supported by a strong implementation and accountability framework. By signing them, Swedbank commits to being transparent on both our positive and negative impact on people and planet. Swedbank will focus where it has the greatest impact – in its core business – and set, publish and implement ambitious targets to scale up positive and address any negative impacts in line with global and local goals.
“We actively and continuously work to integrate sustainability throughout our whole business. The UN's principles for responsible banking are well aligned with the Bank's fundamental commitment to sustainability, where we want to create long-term value for all our stakeholders and contribute to a more sustainable society”, says Anders Karlsson, acting President and CEO of Swedbank.
The Principles for Responsible Banking will provide Swedbank with an effective framework to systematically identify and seize new business opportunities created by the emerging sustainable development economy, while at the same time enabling the bank to effectively identify and address related risks.
Contact:
Fredrik Nilzén, Head of Group Sustainability, Swedbank, ph: +46 (0)76 773 19 26
Carina Sesser Nylund, press contact, Swedbank, ph. +46 (0)72 230 52 64
About the Principles for Responsible Banking
The Principles for Responsible Banking were developed by a core group of 30 Founding Banks through an innovative global partnership between banks and the UNEP Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). UNEP FI is the UN-private sector collaboration that includes membership of more than 250 finance institutions around the globe.
Please see the Principles for Responsible Banking and their Framework Documents here.
For a complete list of all banks that have become the Founding Signatories of the Principles for Responsible Banking today and quotes from their CEOs please click here.
For more information, including infographics and videos, please visit https://www.unepfi.org/banking/bankingprinciples/
To see the official UN press release on the Official Signing and Global Launch of the Principles for Responsible Banking, please click here (link will go live at 2pm EST on 22nd Sep.).
Swedbank encourages a sound and sustainable financial situation for the many households and businesses. As a leading bank in the home markets of Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Swedbank offers a wide range of financial services and products. Swedbank has over 7 million retail customers and around 600 000 corporate customers and organisations with 172 branches in Sweden and 122 branches in the Baltic countries. The group is also present in other Nordic countries, the US and China. As of 30 June, 2019 the group had total assets of SEK 2 280 billion. Read more at www.swedbank.com
Tags: