Case study: How RBI 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.

RBI identifies its stakeholders as those who have valid interests in the company related to its business activities, both direct and indirect. This group predominantly includes employees, customers, owners, subsidiaries, associates, and business partners. Additionally, there are various other stakeholder groups with whom RBI maintains regular and mutually beneficial relationships. RBI’s business practices impact many stakeholder groups and communities across different countries, and RBI is committed to fostering positive engagement with them. Through diverse communication channels, RBI evaluates the significance of sustainability issues and utilizes this feedback to enhance its sustainability management efforts. Moreover, the RBI Group actively engages in various national and international forums.

RBI also establishes partnerships with non-governmental organizations and promotes volunteer programs, as well as supporting educational and social initiatives, all of which contribute to a more sustainable society.

Furthermore, the Sustainability Council plays a vital role in facilitating discussions and shaping opinions, collaborating with both internal decision-makers within the banking group and external members, who are knowledgeable experts in ESG from various sectors of society.

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

In its 2023 Sustainability Report RBI reports that it works with its clients and customers to encourage sustainable practices and enable sustainable economic activities as follows:

The Code of Conduct outlines RBI’s approach to interacting with customers, business partners, and employees, serving as a mandatory regulatory framework applicable across the Group for all staff members. It is available in the respective national languages on the websites of RBI and its subsidiary banks in Central and Eastern Europe. This Code is grounded in Raiffeisen’s core principles as well as RBI’s values of collaboration, proactivity, learning, and responsibility, tailored to meet the specific needs of daily business both domestically and internationally.

RBI aims to deliver top-tier ESG consulting services to its customers while maintaining high quality standards. RBI conducts expert analyses and evaluations of corporate and institutional clients from an ESG standpoint, assisting them in identifying green and social elements within their business profiles. Additionally, RBI provides expert consulting for the development of new products and services and for modifying existing offerings to align with its customers’ specific ESG needs.

To address issues related to negative ESG impacts and prevent greenwashing within sustainable finance transactions, RBI has instituted various processes, including the ESG Expert Opinion and the Greenwashing Prevention Check, as well as an exclusion list outlining corporate activities from which RBI prefers to distance itself. Furthermore, RBI’s employees receive regular training to help them recognize signals indicating that certain activities and sectors may pose sustainability challenges.

RBI is committed to enhancing understanding of financial products and services, sharing its banking expertise as part of its daily advisory functions. This commitment is closely linked to financial education, which entails the proficient management of money and financial matters—often referred to as ‘financial literacy’—reflecting the essence of RBI’s core business.

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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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 RBI, 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.rbinternational.com/en/raiffeisen/sustainability-esg/sustainability-reports.html

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