CTBC releases responsible banking principles report

With regard to its environmental, social and governance impacts, CTBC Bank (中信銀行) voluntarily adopted the UN Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) in 2019. In accordance with the PRB’s implementation requirements, the bank released its 2022 Responsible Banking Principles Report on Friday. CTBC Bank is the first bank in Taiwan to adopt the latest international impact analysis tools and undergo third-party assurance in disclosing its implementation goals in its areas of influence, along with its 2022 work results and major points of progress for last year.

The PRB was jointly launched by the UN Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and more than 30 international financial institutions in 2019 to serve as an important benchmark for the global financial industry’s implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement. Banks around the world that already voluntarily comply with the PRB include two-thirds of Global Systemically Important Banks, and their total assets amount to US$90 trillion.

CTBC Bank is responding to the PRB’s calls for leveraging its economic impact to promote sustainability. The newly released report applies the impact analysis tools and self-disclosure reporting framework of the UNEP FI in responding to all kinds of international sustainability indicators. It has compiled Taiwanese government sustainable development statistics, research reports and other information to identify the on-the-ground sustainability needs of core operating locations and business locations, and further analyzes the potential impact of the bank’s business and services, taking climate change and inclusive finance as priority areas of influence to set long-term goals for promotion. While following the official guidelines of the UNEP FI, CTBC Bank uses the impact analysis tools it provides even more rigorously to ensure that its priority sustainability areas and key tasks more closely match the needs of global sustainability.

Photo courtesy of CTBC Bank Co

CTBC Bank actively promotes low-carbon operations and transition to help mitigate climate change. Following the science-based targets set by CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控), CTBC Bank has established action plans for medium-to-long-term carbon reduction targets in its areas of investment and financing, including commercial real estate, electricity generation projects and general industries. Compared with Taiwanese financial institutions that have passed the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) review, CTBC Bank has included the listed counter stocks, bonds, ETFs and mutual funds of the medium and long-term credit and investment aspects of entire industries within its target range, giving it the most comprehensive range of assets for promoting reduced emissions. Furthermore — in addition to its core operational area — Taiwan, CTBC Bank’s range for implementing its action plans also includes its overseas branches and its subsidiaries in Japan, the US, Canada, Indonesia and the Philippines, giving its carbon-reduction efforts the widest coverage in Taiwan’s banking sector.