ABBANK committed to environmental responsibility

Hanoi (VNA) - The An Binh Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ABBANK) has officially become a member of the United Nations Environment Programme - Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), pioneering in response to climate change and fulfillment of social and environmental corporation responsibility.

ABBANK has adopted the State Bank of Vietnam’s directive to promote green credit growth and manage environmental and social risks in financial operations.

It has integrated sustainability into its risk management and credit granting process by giving priority to projects which have no adverse environmental impacts and power-efficiency or use renewable energy and green technologies.

ABBANK has an Exclusion List that defines the types of projects the bank does not finance and will classify projects according to levels of their social and environmental risks.

It has been offering three ODA-funded loans with strict requirements on environmental protection, including Small and Medium Enterprise Finance Programme (SMEFPIII) financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Rural Development Fund (RDFII) and the Vietnam – Sustainable Agriculture Transformation (VNSAT).

“Becoming a member of UNEP FI is significant to facilitate the green credit growth at ABBANK and in line with the national green growth strategy, an initiative to fulfill its corporate social responsibility by contributing to community and environment. Moreover, this creates a foundation for product development in the future in order to increase the green credit portfolio at ABBANK. This helps the bank prevent the financial risk and reputational risk during the normal course of business and strengthens the brand image in the financial market in general and in this segment in particular,” ABBANK CEO Cu Anh Tuan stated.

The UNEP FI is a public-private partnership between the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the financial sector. It seeks to encourage the better implementation of sustainability principles at all levels of operations in financial institutions, namely through the incorporation of environmental, social and governance factors in risk analyses.

Joined by over 200 institutions, including banks, insurers and investors, the UNEP FI placed great emphasis on promoting sustainable development by encouraging the integration of environmental considerations into all aspects of their operations and services.-VNA