Best Practices

This bank was established on the initiative of the Polish National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management. From the outset, BOŚ's main objective was to raise capital for credit support for environmental projects using all instruments available in the banking system. For 30 years it has been teaching Poles how to spend less and earn more thanks to ecology. For individual customers, it creates innovative banking products to which it adds "green benefits" - with profit for their personal finances. Bank Ochrony Środowiska attaches particular importance to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by United Nations member states in the AGENDA 2030 resolution. It believes that any change must start with ourselves. That is why the ESG Strategy has been developed and is being implemented. Bank Ochrony Środowiska's ESG strategy is a comprehensive document governing the bank's approach to sustainable development. It is in line with the Business Strategy 2021-2023 published in June this year. It presents a set of actions taken from the point of view of BOŚ's impact on environmental protection, concern for society and the highest standards of corporate governance.

BOŚ has been pursuing its pro-environmental mission for more than 30 years. Long before the introduction of the first EU regulations in this area, BOŚ began publishing environmental reports (the first one before 2000), in which it summarised its own activities in the area of ecology in the broadest sense.

BOŚ's mission is to innovatively and effectively support the green transformation. The bank's vision: comprehensive financing of the green transformation, by offering unique products, committed experts and a variety of financial instruments.

The Bank ensures that the projects it finances support environmental challenges. The Climate Policy guides the Bank of the Environment's efforts to combat and adapt to climate change and to achieve the bank's emission reduction targets as set out in the ESG Strategy. The policy defines BOŚ's commitments to meet the environmental legal requirements that apply to the bank, promote sustainability among customers, prevent pollution, apply good environmental market practices and promote environmental awareness among stakeholders.

This bank is also a socially active bank. It prepares specialised expertise and raises environmental awareness. It carries out activities for society with a view to positively impacting key stakeholders, including its customers. Cooperation with and support for NGOs, scientific and cultural institutions is also an important area for the bank. It carries out key social activities through the programmes of the BOŚ Foundation. At the same time, it undertakes numerous activities aimed at its employees, creating a dynamic workplace where commitment, professionalism and respect are combined.

In terms of corporate governance, taking into account the dynamics of the changing environment in which it operates, it provides the best risk management solutions and is constantly improving internal solutions to support sustainability.

The bank is at the forefront of green change. An important development is the introduction of the Environmental Bank Strategy 2021-2023, which outlines a set of actions to be taken from the perspective of BOŚ's environmental impact, concern for society and the highest standards of corporate governance. The strategy's objectives - measurable and allowing progress to be monitored over time - are in line with ESG criteria. They are also in line with the "2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development", prepared by the United Nations and to which the Bank is one of the signatories. The bank has also set up its own foundation. The foundation carries out its own programmes and projects that influence changes in social behaviour. It supports the development of the bank's employees' environmental knowledge and activates pro-environmental and pro-social attitudes. It actively cooperates with institutions with similar objectives. BOŚ has introduced 'Standards of Conduct for Environmental Bank Suppliers' These provide the foundation on which it and its suppliers want to build and maintain relationships based on integrity, trust and shared responsibility for business practices in health and safety, human rights, business ethics, care for employees and care for the environment at all stages of operations. This approach benefits both the bank and its suppliers, as well as the social and business environment. The bank monitors the investments it makes with its financial support to ensure that they achieve their business and environmental objectives, which is its market differentiator.

Bank Ochrony Środowiska has succeeded above all in the field of green change, as it is a leader in the country in this respect. It ranks high in rankings on ESG. The establishment of a foundation at the bank to support and promote its pro-environmental activities is also a success. It has significantly reduced the carbon footprint resulting from its operations. The introduction of the so-called ECO offer complements the bank's priority programmes. It widens the availability and funding opportunities for green investments, allowing ecological challenges to be met to an even greater extent. Also, the introduction of various internal ESG-related strategies has successfully helped BOŚ to build public trust, positively influence various areas of the environment, as well as to strengthen sector-technology expertise in the field of ecology and climate, expand partnerships and actively work for environmental and climate protection in Poland.

The bank received an ESG rating for the first time in 2021. At that time, the rating agency Morningstar Sustainalytics gave BOŚ an overall ESG Risk rating of 19.9, which implied a low risk of material negative impact from ESG factors ("Low Risk"). In 2022, on the other hand, BOŚ managed to significantly improve this rating and go down to 14.2. This score places BOŚ among the top 9 per cent of the best-rated banks globally (out of more than 1,000 financial institutions surveyed) and at the same time among the top 8 per cent of the more than 15,500 total companies worldwide surveyed by Morningstar Sustainalytics.

Building a position associated with being at the forefront of promoting and implementing green change requires a lot of input. It is about hiring appropriately qualified staff, building sustainable partnerships with others who will also support activities that have a positive impact on the environment and ethical issues, and building awareness among the public about sustainability issues. The draft ESG Strategy would be worth evaluating as part of the social dialogue with stakeholders, consulting with representatives of public administration, international organisations and key customers. The implementation of a human rights compliance policy at an institution such as BOŚ is also crucial. As part of human rights compliance, the risk of human rights violations should be identified, assessed, prevented and mitigated by applying appropriate actions immediately when such incidents occur. It will also be a good idea to popularise green investments financed by the bank, allowing more potential stakeholders to support these investments. This will also maximise the impact of the projects mentioned.

BOŚ Bank. (n.d.). O banku. Retrieved from: https://www.bosbank.pl/informacje-korporacyjne/o-banku

BOŚ Bank. (n.d.). Strategia i raportowanie ESG. Retrieved from: https://www.bosbank.pl/ESG/esg/strategia-i-raport-esg

Rzeczpospolita. (2023). Sektor finansowy źródłem dobrych praktyk w CSR. Retrieved from: https://www.rp.pl/biznes-odpowiedzialny-w-polsce/art38188691-sektor-finansowy-zrodlem-dobrych-praktyk-w-csr?fbclid=IwAR3noqyQ5wjZFZpyuCGlq8LTfGWwKgC_2gXqB--d7FyKykBYQIlvw2XnN9g