Case study: How Citadele works with its clients and customers to encourage sustainable practices
Citadele is a Latvia-based bank offering a wide array of banking products to both retail and corporate customers. Its primary market includes the Baltic states: Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. In 2023, Citadele employed 1,301 people in ongoing operations and served 378,000 active customers in the Baltics. The Bank’s loan portfolio amounted to €2.9 billion, while deposits totaled €3.8 billion. Citadele operates 11 branches and client service centers in Latvia, 1 branch in Estonia, and 1 branch with 6 customer service units in Lithuania. Citadele is a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) and is, accordingly, working with its clients and customers to encourage sustainable practices and enable sustainable economic activities. Tweet This!
This case study is based on the 2023 PRB Reporting and Self-Assessment Template by Citadele, prepared in relation to its implementation of the PRB, that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Which Principles for Responsible Banking have been addressed?
The Principles for Responsible Banking addressed in this case are:
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- Principle 3: Clients and Customers
- Principle 4: Stakeholders
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With this case study you will see:
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- How Citadele proceeded with stakeholder identification and consultation, and
- How Citadele worked with its clients and customers to encourage sustainable practices and enable sustainable economic activities
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Stakeholder identification and consultation
Please describe which stakeholders (or groups/ types of stakeholders) you have identified, consulted, engaged, collaborated or partnered with for the purpose of implementing the Principles and improving your bank’s impacts. This should include a high-level overview of how your bank has identified relevant stakeholders, what issues were addressed/results achieved and how they fed into the action planning process.
Citadele seeks to maintain an open, constructive, and close dialogue with its stakeholders, including customers, employees, investors, regulators, analysts, rating agencies, and the general public.
To facilitate this, Citadele has established several stakeholder engagement processes. These include an internal ESG working group, regular meetings with customers and sustainability experts, and conducting employee surveys alongside employee representation in the working group. The feedback from these engagements is used to inform strategies and practices, ensuring alignment with stakeholder needs and expectations.
Citadele is also committed to enhancing transparency in its operations for shareholders, investors, and the general public. The bank reports on its environmental and social impact, as well as its progress in its ESG journey, through an annual sustainability report. This report provides a comprehensive overview of Citadele’s efforts and achievements in responsible banking, including strategies, policies, and practices related to sustainability, as well as its performance and impact data.
Citadele is continuously working on improving its transparency efforts.
How did Citadele work with its clients and customers to encourage sustainable practices and enable sustainable economic activities?
In its 2023 PRB Reporting and Self-Assessment Template Citadele reports that it works with its clients and customers to encourage sustainable practices and enable sustainable economic activities as follows:
As Citadele’s portfolio and ambitions in green financing grow, it remains acutely aware of the limited availability of data on GHG emissions, transition plans, other environmental risks beyond climate change, and the overall low awareness of what the green transition entails. Without this critical information, it is challenging to confidently evaluate the potential impact of Citadele’s financed investments on the environment. Citadele believes that enhancing education and transparency on these issues will remain crucial.
To address this challenge, Citadele has actively participated in the Banking Association of Latvia to develop a joint ESG questionnaire for banks across the Baltic countries and a common GHG calculator to encourage clients to make their own estimations. The questionnaire and the GHG calculator for client use are planned for launch in Q1-Q2 2024.
UN Principles for Responsible Banking: Accelerating a positive global transition for people and the planet
With over 300 signatory banks representing almost half of the global banking industry, the Principles for Responsible Banking are the world’s foremost sustainable banking framework. Through these Principles, the banking community takes action to align core strategies, decision-making, lending and investment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and international agreements such as the Paris Climate Agreement.
FBRH Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) Assurance:
First class PRB assurance services: The result of solid, hands-on ESG/ Sustainability experience
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- FBRH is a GRI Certified Training Partner (Global), ISEP Training Centre and a member of CPD.
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- FBRH possesses a unique skill set that combines ESG/sustainability certified training, experience in advisory services and report preparation, and ESG/sustainability report assurance.
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The combination of all the above empowers FBRH to provide first class Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) assurance services.
References:
This case study is based on published information by Citadele, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:
https://www.cblgroup.com/files/pdf/PRB-Reporting-and-Self-Assessment-2023.pdf
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