Following a six-month public consultative process, the United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) has this week released the final official versions of the UNEP FI Principles for Responsible Banking and their supporting framework documents. Endorsed by more than 100 financial institutions ahead of their 22 September global launch, CIB was one of the 30 Founding Banks for this initiative.
 
The Principles have been developed by a core group of 30 Founding Banks through an innovative global partnership between banks and UNEP FI. They provide a single framework for the development of a sustainable banking industry. In doing so, the Principles set out the banking industry’s role and responsibility in shaping a sustainable future and in aligning the banking sector with the objectives of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
 
They also, importantly, enable a bank to embed sustainability across all its business areas, and to identify where it has the potential to make the most impactful contribution to a sustainable world. They also position a bank to leverage new business opportunities with the emergence of the sustainable development economy.