Social banking, green economy and new investment strategy

Some of the big international banks have intercepted the popular sentiment that pushes for a change in industrial and consumer strategies, focusing on the environment and sustainable social relations.

An example was given by Unicredit, a large international bank, which has launched a new strategy aimed at investments in the ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) sector which is contained in the new business plan that will be presented on 3 December 2019.

The new concept that represents, more than anything else, the spirit of the initiative is contained in the strategy “not a return on capital but a return of capital”.

The bank has made available 1 billion euros to finance operations that have a social implication, making money run on projects that create initiatives with positive impact for the community.

Furthermore the bank has decided to completely abandon the financing of projects that do not go in the direction of the circular and sustainable economy, in particular projects that deal with the extraction of coal will no longer be financed, carrying out those in progress, but not others will be funded.

Funding for projects involved in oil extraction in the Arctic, offshore gas and those related to shale oil will also be banned due to the invasive extraction system based on mechanical fault fractures.

As regards the financing of eco-sustainable projects, the bank decided to increase them by 25%, reaching a quota of 9 billion euros by 2023, injecting liquidity into the renewable energy and energy efficiency sector.

The bank will have a team of technicians and economists who will directly assess the most important cases to classify the financing with respect to the directives of the new industrial plan.

Automatic translation. We apologize for any inaccuracies. Original article in Italian.