By signing the Principles for Responsible Banking, RBS joins a coalition of 130 banks worldwide, representing over USD 47 trillion in assets, in committing to taking on a crucial role in helping to achieve a sustainable future.
Ross McEwan, CEO The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, said:
“We are pleased to become a Founding Signatory to the UNEP FI Principles for Responsible Banking. The commitment to further align our strategy with the Paris Climate Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals will enable us to make greater impacts in priority areas such as financial capability, enterprise and the environment. I’m incredibly proud of our longstanding commitment to areas like financial education for young people, support for female entrepreneurs, and finance for renewable energy projects. However there is always more to do and we welcome the collaborative nature of the Principles. We are committed to working closely with our stakeholders, peers and partners to make further progress.”
Taking place at the start of the UN General Assembly, the official launch of the Principles for Responsible Banking marked the beginning of the most significant partnership to date between the global banking industry and the UN.
“The UN Principles for Responsible Banking are a guide for the global banking industry to respond to, drive and benefit from a sustainable development economy. The Principles create the accountability that can realise responsibility, and the ambition that can drive action.” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the launch event.
“A banking industry that plans for the risks associated with climate change and other environmental challenges can not only drive the transition to low-carbon and climate-resilient economies, it can benefit from it,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). “When the financial system shifts its capital away from resource-hungry, brown investments to those that back nature as solution, everybody wins in the long-term.”
For more information please visit: https://www.unepfi.org/banking/bankingprinciples/
