Case study: How IKB works with its clients and customers to encourage sustainable practices

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.

IKB’s sustainability communication is focused on ongoing, proactive, and consistent engagement with its stakeholders. The bank’s primary stakeholders include its customers, creditors, owners, employees, supervisory authorities, the general public, rating agencies, and media representatives. IKB maintains regular communication with institutional bond investors through its Investor Relations team, conducting individual meetings and investor calls. In preparation for the CSRD, the bank collaborated with internal stakeholders throughout the reporting period.

How did IKB work with its clients and customers to encourage sustainable practices and enable sustainable economic activities?

In its 2024 PRB Reporting and Self-Assessment Template IKB reports that it works with its clients and customers to encourage sustainable practices and enable sustainable economic activities as follows:

IKB views ESG as an opportunity to strengthen its customer relationships and foster sustainable growth. The bank ensures responsible business conduct by adhering to all relevant laws and internal policies, supported by an effective compliance system. This approach enables IKB to act in the public interest, prevent criminal activities, and make a positive impact beyond its core operations.

To assist customers in transitioning to a low-emission and green economy, the bank offers tailored sustainable finance and advisory services. Its ESG-based lending process is built around three key components: sustainability-related lending standards, ESG scoring, and the Sustainable Finance Framework.

For the sustainability-oriented management of new lending activities, IKB established specific sustainability criteria in 2024, which have been incorporated into its risk management system. These criteria include both broad environmental and social standards applicable across the lending business, as well as sector-specific standards. The general environmental standards specify that financing or involvement in activities or projects that could cause significant and lasting environmental harm—such as rainforest destruction or land, air, or water pollution—are inconsistent with the bank’s corporate strategy. Sector-specific standards apply to sectors such as energy, wood, pulp and paper, mining, agriculture and forestry, as well as fishing and aquaculture. These standards are mandatory and aim to enhance the bank’s positive contributions to sustainable transformation while minimizing negative impacts. Their publication ensures transparency, clearly communicating to all stakeholders the types of financing purposes the bank generally supports.

When making individual lending decisions, relevant sustainability information is evaluated using a sustainability checklist or an ESG scoring tool, ensuring that ESG considerations are systematically integrated. Introduced in 2024, the ESG scoring tool assesses ESG risks from both a risk and impact perspective. During the 2025 financial year, the scoring process was completed for all of IKB’s corporate and real estate clients—except for those with MaRisk status “resolution” or whose group business volume was below €750,000—replacing the previous sustainability checklist for these exposures.

At the beginning of 2022, IKB established a green loan framework to position itself within sustainable finance and to provide transparency regarding its assessment criteria and understanding of sustainability. To further support its clients’ transition toward environmentally and socially sustainable practices, IKB expanded its Green Loan Framework to include corporate loans financed through its own funds under the Sustainable Finance Framework, creating a comprehensive view of its sustainable product offerings. The IKB Sustainable Finance Framework aligns with both the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the European Union Taxonomy Regulation for sustainable activities. It is based on various ESG guidelines from the Loan Market Association (LMA), notably the Green Loan Principles (GLP) and the Sustainability-Linked Loan Principles (SLLP). The framework has been reviewed and certified by ISS ESG, a globally recognized ESG certification organization.

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:

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    • FBRH builds trust. Over 200 reviews from top professionals from around the world demonstrate our ability to build strong, trusting business relationships.
    • FBRH possesses a unique skill set that combines ESG/sustainability certified training, experience in advisory services and report preparation, and ESG/sustainability report assurance.

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 IKB, 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.ikb.de/resource/blob/13078/e77eff72ca30f29bb5ba6988c60fba19/unprb-reporting-2024-eng-data.pdf

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