The banks of the ProCredit group are dedicated to incorporating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles into all operational and business activities, ranging from their standards set for the employees’ behaviour all the way to their banking operations including investment and lending practices. One of the key ways ProCredit Holding integrates ESG principles is through its Code of Conduct, which identifies positive practices for their staff and includes an Exclusion List that identifies business activities that do not align with ProCredit's values. This list covers areas such as unethical practices and labour conditions, activities detrimental to health, safety, and the environment, and those having a negative impact on the community.
“We select our clients as carefully as we select our staff. We do not finance business activities that are socially, morally or environmentally questionable or that violate current health and safety practices. Carrying out an ESG assessment of all lending clients is part of our credit risk assessment and decision-making process, where each client is appraised for compliance with regulations and best practices regarding environmental protection, health and safety, and overall working conditions”, said Metodija Minoski, Team Leader in Group Environmental Management at ProCredit Holding.
Furthermore, ProCredit Holding follows all relevant international initiatives and regulations, including the EU Taxonomy, and it is a signatory to international agreements such as the UNEP Principles for Responsible Banking and the Net-Zero Banking Alliance.
“In addition, we disclose our climate-relevant data in line with the standards issued by the SBTi, PCAF, TCFD, UNEP FI Finance Leadership Group on Plastics, etc., and document our progress in achieving our group-wide sustainability goals in our annual Impact Reports, which we have been publishing since 2017 in accordance with the GRI Standards”, explained Mr Minoski.
The green agenda has been strongly embedded in their business practices for more than a decade. For instance, in 2022 they had over 20% green loans in their portfolio. They also support green investments and facilitate the development of local infrastructures related to waste management, energy efficiency, renewable energy and other environmentally friendly practices at external events among other initiatives. ProCredit Holding has taken on many sustainability projects and initiatives, such as a regional network consisting of 272 publicly available e-charging stations in the countries where the banks operate. Furthermore, they are investing in renewable energy, and have already made tangible steps with investments in their own solar energy farm with 3MW capacity in Kosovo. They have also financed multiple solar installations by their small and medium enterprise clients in the region.
“Wherever appropriate, we encourage business clients with free space on their roof to consider investing in a photovoltaic system. To this end, we have partnered up with local companies in each of our countries of operation. In 2022 alone, we almost doubled the number of rooftop PV disbursements and increased the total installed capacity of such projects to 162MWp”, highlighted Minoski.
Banks can play an important role in the sustainability transition by deciding which projects they will finance and which clients they will or will not do business with.
"As part of our focus on small and medium enterprises, including our clients in South Eastern Europe, we see our role as driving them to green their operations and supporting their investments in decarbonisation and climate risk resilience. The ProCredit group is also following international best practices with regard to reducing emissions. As a member of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, we are committed to achieving net-zero emissions in our portfolio by 2050 or sooner, and we have also adopted the disclosure principles of the Science Based Targets initiative", said Minoski.
“ProCredit shows how strong values can be reflected through responsible banking practices, thus ensuring the trust of clients and are proud to have them as silver sponsors at the Summit, where they will share their expertise”, said Biljana Braithwaite, CEO of Sustineri Partners, the organiser of the ESG Summit in the Western Balkans.
