News overview
View the latest news releases from Sustainable Banking and stay informed.
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Human Rights Report shows we’re stronger together
At the end of February, ABN AMRO published its second Human Rights Report, which documents the bank’s efforts over the past two years in its capacity as a provider of banking services, an employer, a lender and an investment services provider. Environmental, Social & Ethical Risk Advisor Ruben Zandvliet says the report clearly shows how the bank is effectively translating theory into practice.
ABN AMRO Frontrunners spread their wings as social intrapreneurs
How do you motivate your employees to make their social ideas a reality? With the Frontrunner Challenge, ABN AMRO is encouraging fifty of its employees to develop their ideas into ready-made concepts as part of a small team of like-minded co-workers. The Challenge imposes relatively few formal constraints, but the ideas submitted do have to serve a social purpose and be based on a solid business model. For Social Impact Innovation Manager Ella Romijn, the Challenge is a dream come true.
ABN AMRO joins Illegal Wildlife Trade Financial Taskforce
In October 2018, Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, founded the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) Financial Taskforce, which is committed to identifying illegal wildlife trade via the world’s banking systems. In January of this year, ABN AMRO’s CEO Kees van Dijkhuizen promised Prince William at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the bank would join the initiative. James Spalding, ABN AMRO’s Asia-Pacific Regional Head of Security and Integrity Management, spearheaded the initiative.
External advisory body underpins sustainable investment at ABN AMRO’s Bethmann Bank
Bethmann Bank, a German private bank subsidiary of ABN AMRO, came up with the idea nine years ago of establishing a council it could turn to for advice on sustainable investments. Ulf Dörner, founder and chairman of the Advisory Council for Sustainability, felt it was important that the council’s recommendations should not be tied to commercial interests and that only external, independent advisers should be appointed. Now, thirty quarterly meetings and over seven years later, the council employs five advisers and continues to shape the bank’s sustainable investment portfolio.
Richard Reporting – what’s the ABN AMRO Energy Transition Fund all about?
In Richard Reporting, Richard Kooloos, Head of Sustainable Banking, drops in on colleagues to find out how they personally are making sustainability a reality. This time, he talks to Wendela Huber and Pieter Smit of the ABN AMRO Energy Transition Fund about accelerating the energy transition.
Leasing: a real option for companies making the sustainable transition
No entrepreneur today can afford to ignore sustainability. But smaller companies often have a harder time taking steps to make changes. They may lack expertise, for instance, and could benefit from expert advice or a suitable financing plan. Many larger firms, on the other hand, would be interested in a proposal allowing them to finance their sustainability plans on favourable terms. Claudio Moretti, Commercial Banking Manager with ABN AMRO Asset-Based Finance (ABF), says sustainability is now an integral part of the bank’s leasing product range.