Case study: How Shiga Bank 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.

Shiga Bank’s Management Principles emphasize the bank’s dedication to fostering mutual prosperity with regional communities, all employees, and the environment, highlighting a focus on co-creation with all stakeholders.

The bank’s long-term strategy incorporates insights not only from internal perspectives but also from a range of external experts, gathered through stakeholder dialogues.

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

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

Shiga Bank upholds its purpose, the bank’s motto and Management Principles that embody its unchanging spirit, and has established a Sustainability Policy.

To promote responsible relationships with customers, Shiga Bank focuses on constructive dialogue (engagement) through various programs, such as the Ratings Communication Service. In November 2021, the Bank developed an ESG assessment system as a tool for dialogue with customers, aiming to understand their management challenges—including ESG issues—in addition to financial concerns, and to foster initiatives that enhance corporate value stemming from these issues.

Based on the “Policy for customer-first business operation,” Shiga Bank seeks to provide customer-centric, goal-oriented support.

The bank’s fundamental approach emphasizes engagement, which occurs through three channels. First, Shiga Bank engages via daily public relations activities that highlight the positive impacts of its business activities, such as promoting financial education, regional economic revitalization, and initiatives related to sustainability and ESG. Second, by offering specific finance-related services, the bank communicates its sustainability approach, including assessments of customer creditworthiness and ESG efforts. Simultaneously, it listens to customers’ ideas, recognizes that all stakeholders are part of the same regional community, and collaborates toward sustainable development. In ESG finance and SDGs consulting, Shiga Bank provides personalized support for customers’ ESG initiatives and its own sustainability management, with particular emphasis on decarbonization efforts. Third, the bank engages with customers, shareholders, and local residents through Investor Relations activities, as well as with regional economic and other organizations. It works to foster mutual understanding of regional sustainability and economic revitalization by sharing its sustainability approach and discussing ongoing activities. The bank alone cannot achieve regional sustainability and social/economic revitalization, so it recognizes the importance of working collaboratively with regional stakeholders through ongoing engagement.

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 Shiga 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:

https://www.shigagin.com/pdf/ESG_PRB_KPI_Sep2024_en.pdf

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