Case study: How How Achmea Bank takes action on its PRB targets: climate change mitigation and financial health and inclusion
Achmea Bank is part of Achmea, one of the Netherlands’ leading financial service providers with a cooperative heritage, and provides savings, mortgage products, and investment services to private clients. In 2024, aiming to keep the Netherlands financially healthy and self-sufficient, Achmea Bank boasted a mortgage portfolio of around EUR 17 billion and a savings portfolio of about EUR 10 billion. Achmea Bank is a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) and has, accordingly, set and published two targets which address two different areas of most significant impact that Achmea Bank identified in its impact analysis. Tweet This!
This case study is based on the 2024 ESG Impact Report by Achmea Bank, 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 (PRB) addressed in this case are:
- Principle 2: Impact and Target Setting
- Principle 4: Stakeholders
Abstract
Achmea Bank has set targets for climate change mitigation and financial health and inclusion. In order to show that it has implemented the actions it defined to meet the set targets, Achmea Bank took action on:
- SMART Target 1: Climate change mitigation
- SMART Target 2: Financial health and inclusion
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With this case study you will see:
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- Which are the PRB targets Achmea Bank has set and published;
- How Achmea Bank proceeded with stakeholder identification and consultation, and
- What actions were taken by Achmea Bank on its PRB targets
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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.
Achmea Bank interacts with its stakeholders through various tools and methods to ensure alignment with society’s goals and values. Achmea Bank’s key stakeholder groups include employees, customers, partners, and investors. Achmea Bank engages with them through:
- Customer councils and customer-centric dialogue sessions
- Assessing service quality using Net Promoter Score (NPS)
- Conducting market research
- Employee councils
- Adherence to the Banking Code and Achmea Bank’s Code of Conduct
- Active participation in initiatives by the Dutch Banking Association, such as ‘Bankers in the Classroom’ and market research projects
- Building partnerships to advance Achmea Bank’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including collaborations with PCAF, EEM NL Hub, and the Sector Collective ‘Duurzaam Wonen’
- Engaging in dialogue with partners and investors
What actions were taken by Achmea Bank on its PRB targets, climate change mitigation and financial health and inclusion?
In its 2024 ESG Impact Report Achmea Bank reports that it took the following actions on its PRB targets, climate change mitigation and financial health and inclusion:
- SMART Target 1: Climate change mitigation
- SDG 11: An annual impact report detailing Achmea Bank’s carbon emissions, prepared using methodologies from the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF). This report also outlines Achmea Bank’s carbon reduction targets and transition strategies.
- SDG 13: Achieving net-zero banking operations by 2030 and reaching net-zero financed emissions for Achmea Bank’s mortgage portfolio by 2050. Systematically reducing its environmental footprint is central to Achmea Bank’s sustainability efforts, which Achmea Bank pursues through a combination of emission reductions, increased efficiency, and offsetting measures.
- SMART Target 2: Financial health and inclusion
- SDG 10: Annually, Achmea Bank’s employees deliver guest lessons to young people on managing their finances, with a goal of a minimum of 50 lessons each year.
SDG 10: in 2025, Achmea Bank established specific targets and plans to achieve further progress with this theme. While Achmea Bank already implements several programs related to this theme, it aims to enhance its impact by more deeply integrating it into its strategy, metrics, and objectives.
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.
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References:
This case study is based on published information by Achmea Bank, 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:
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