Sustainable Development
ABN AMRO believes that it is important for businesses to act responsibly in its trade practices and services provided. As banks are playing an important role in our society through financial resources and offering expertise to customers, we believe we must also take responsibility to play an important role in other issues affecting the world around us.
We constantly seek dialogue with our stakeholders to ensure that, through our own bank actions and policies, we continue to meet our clients'
environmental concerns as well.
In our daily business decisions, ABN AMRO strives to maintain sustainability for our planet and for future generations. We have a commitment to ongoing sustainability throughout our organisation and in all elements of our business plans; and to incorporate this ideology not only into business solutions which will contribute to a sustainable economy, but also in our approach to risk management.
We use an Ethical Social Environmental approach (ESE approach) as part of our design of products and policies, which benefit the environment, and are socially and ethically responsible.
We have products and services for individuals which fit within our ESE approach, which range from microfinance to investment in ESE loans. We also have products and services for business customers:
The Green Loan: for entrepreneurs to invest in projects that are good for the environment, such as solar panels, heat pumps and sustainable building.
Environment Lease: The government encourages investment through tax benefits and subsidies in energy and environmentally-friendly equipment such as solar panels, cogeneration plants, and heat-cold storage.
For consumer clients, ABN AMRO offers a wide range of sustainable investments, including products such as stocks, bonds, notes and turbo's. ABN AMRO also offers the Sustainable Shares Model Portfolio, a portofolio consisting of as many firms as possible with a sustainability indication.
While ABN AMRO is in a period of transition, we still support and endorse the guidelines of the 'Equator Principles', of which we were one of the initiators in 2003. The Equator Principles are a set of standard guidelines for financial institutions aimed at controlling the social and environmental risks of project financing. Following our merger with Fortis Bank Nederland, ABN AMRO looks forward to once again moving ahead with involvement in causes we believe in, such as these Principles.
Banks are linked with the society in which they operate. ABN AMRO is actively committed to the communities in which we operate.
Please visit our website for ABN AMRO Netherlands to find out more about our sustainable actions in our local Dutch market.