INTESA SANPAOLO JOINS THE UNEP FI PRINCIPLES
FOR RESPONSIBLE BANKING (PRB)
Official signing and global launch at the start of the UN General Assembly week on 22 September in New York, in the presence of the UN Secretary-General.
CEO Carlo Messina: “For a Bank like ours, which has embedded sustainability in its Business Plan, subscribing to the Principles for Responsible Banking is a natural next step”.
Milan, 20 September 2019 – Intesa Sanpaolo signs the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) from UNEP FI (the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative), a policy document that aims to align the banking sector with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and with the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate. The Principles will be signed and launched at the UN Headquarters in New York on 22 September at the start of the UN General Assembly week, in the presence of UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Intesa Sanpaolo is a Founding Signatory, given to the first banks to confirm their adherence to the Principles.
Intesa Sanpaolo CEO Carlo Messina commented: “Intesa Sanpaolo has been a member of UNEP FI and of the UN Global Compact since our Group’s creation in 2007. For a Bank like ours, which has embedded sustainability in its 2018-2021 Business Plan, subscribing to the Principles for Responsible Banking is a natural next step. Our commitment is significant and includes a €5 billion circular economy fund - for which we plan to issue a second Sustainability Bond to be offered on international markets. Along this, we also have a plan for economic inclusion built on a €1.25 billion impact fund and a major program to aid the neediest. We are deeply committed to cultural initiatives with our Progetto Cultura, aimed at sharing our vast artistic patrimony”.
As society’s expectations change, banks are asked to be increasingly transparent and clear about how their products and services create value for customers, investors and the broader community. By providing an outline on how banks can successfully adapt their business strategies, the Principles set out a framework for a sustainable banking system that can help accelerate the positive contribution made by this sector to the burning issues regarding sustainability.
The are six Principles are: 1) alignment of business strategies with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the related national and regional frameworks, 2) increasing positive impacts and reducing negative ones, 3) supporting customers who promote sustainability and prosperity for current and future generations, 4) engagement and collaboration with stakeholders to share these goals, 5) effective governance 6) monitoring the application of the Principles and transparency of the results achieved.
Following is a link to the Principles for Responsible Banking: https://www.unepfi.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/FINAL-PRB-Signature-Document-2-Interactive-22-07-19.pdf
Intesa Sanpaolo
Media Relations
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About Intesa Sanpaolo
Intesa Sanpaolo is one of the most solid and profitable banks in Europe, providing wealth management, consumer banking, corporate and investment banking, asset management and insurance. As the market leader in Italy, Intesa Sanpaolo serves nearly 12 million customers through digital and traditional channels. The Group’s international subsidiary banks provide for an additional 7.2 million customers in Central Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Intesa Sanpaolo is recognized as one of the most sustainable banks in the world. The Group believes that value creation should be interpreted broadly, supporting social purpose and driving the real economy. As part of its commitment to sustainable growth, Intesa Sanpaolo has created a €5 billion financing facility dedicated to the circular economy. The Group’s large-scale project for economic inclusion and poverty alleviation includes a Fund for Impact to provide €1.2 billion in loans to those parts of society that find access to credit difficult. Intesa Sanpaolo is deeply committed to cultural initiatives that it promotes on its own and together with partners in Italy and abroad, including permanent and temporary exhibits of the vast artistic patrimony of the Gallerie d’Italia, the Group’s three museums located in Milan, Naples and Vicenza.
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INTESA SANPAOLO’S COMMITMENT
TO ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
Intesa Sanpaolo has always been a trailblazer in the field of sustainability, a commitment that has been reaffirmed by the 2018-2021 Business Plan. This commitment to sustainability has led to a number of achievements for Intesa Sanpaolo. Among these are the Bank’s inclusion in numerous sustainability indices, such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (World and Europe) and the 2018 Climate Change A List of the Carbon Disclosure Project, being the only Italian bank among roughly 126 leading global companies engaged in combatting climate change and promoting environmentally-friendly strategies. In the 2019 ranking by Corporate Knights, a Canadian rating and research company specialising in sustainability, Intesa Sanpaolo placed 80th out of 7500 listed companies, and was the sole Italian bank to be included among the top 100 most sustainable companies in the world.
Environmental sustainability
The Group’s commitment to environmental sustainability has meant that measures to limit its CO2 emissions have continued thanks to a multi-year action plan, and Intesa Sanpaolo continues to offer green financial products and services to support the development of the green economy, with funding of over 1.9 billion euro disbursed in 2018. In June 2017, it was the first Italian bank to issue a green bond for a total amount of 500 million euro for the financing of projects focused on renewable energy and energy efficiency. The proceeds from the green bond have been entirely allocated to fund 75 projects with an annual saving of over 353,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions (equal to the annual emissions produced by roughly 66,000 people - source: Intesa Sanpaolo calculations based on International Energy Agency (IEA) data for Italy in 2016). Intesa Sanpaolo, in a close partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation for the circular economy, has also set up a €5 billion fund and, together with Fondazione Cariplo, launched the first circular economy lab in Italy for businesses. Furthermore, in 2018, the Eurizon Fund Absolute Green Bonds fund was launched, the first instrument to be set up by an Italian asset manager specialising in global bond markets that enables funding to be provided for environmental projects.
Social sustainability
In 2018, the Intesa Sanpaolo Group disbursed nearly €4.5 billion in loans for high-social-impact activities (7.4% of total new loans), helping to create business and employment opportunities, as well as assisting people in difficulty through various means: microcredit, anti-usury loans, loans to the Public Administration to develop services and activities of social interest, and products designed for the most vulnerable groups in society to promote their financial inclusion. For some time, Intesa Sanpaolo has recognised the importance of assisting Third Sector organisations through Banca Prossima – now part of the Group’s new Impact Department – that in late 2018 had approximately 65,000 customers, with direct and indirect deposits of almost €5.3 billion (of which €3.7 billion being direct deposits) and loans of just under €2 billion. Thanks to the Fund for Impact, loans of approximately 1.25 billion euro for groups struggling to access credit will be disbursed. The first initiative revolved around the “per Merito” loan for students living in Italy, that seeks to provide greater access to Italian and international universities, with no need for guarantors. In 2018, approximately €250 million was disbursed to support social enterprises and the Third Sector.
A strong commitment to philanthropy to support those facing hardship is key to Italy’s growth. The philanthropic goal became a reality in 2018, with collaboration agreements established with institutions and associations, that are often partners with the Bank, in order to set out medium- and long-term social solidarity projects with over 3.5 million measures.
In 2018, the disbursements from the Charity Fund and Intesa Sanpaolo’s social and cultural projects, coordinated under the responsibility of the Chairman, totalled €12 million, supporting 908 projects set up by non-profit organisations. Of these disbursements, 72% were provided for social matters, supporting the most vulnerable in society, 16% for projects proposed by religious organisations, 8% for culture, entailing Fund activities that focused on projects involving vulnerable and marginalised groups, and 4% for scientific research. In 2019, the Fund will be able to disburse a total of €13.5 million.
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Media Relations
Institutional, Social and Cultural Activities
September 2019
Last updated 20 September 2019 at 18:55
