Today, the Principles for Responsible Banking Academy (PRB Academy) marks its first anniversary. The online learning platform is designed to support the implementation of the Principles for Responsible Banking framework and provide comprehensive training on responsible banking practices across the global banking sector. This includes aligning banking strategy and operations with the goals of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement.

Over the past year, nearly 1000 finance professionals have been trained through the PRB Academy, offering courses tailored to banking professionals of all career levels. Developed by United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative, the Chartered Banker Institute, and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the Academy aims to equip bankers with the necessary knowledge and tools to integrate sustainability considerations across the bank including strategic decisions, lending, and product development, amongst others.

The curriculum covers various aspects of responsible banking, from foundational principles to in-depth insights into climate-related issues and their influence on banking services to a dedicated module for board members and senior executives to facilitate the integration of responsible banking into their organisations. There is also a unit for bankers working with clients and customers that want to evolve as responsible businesses entities.

UNEP FI encourages all 300+ plus signatories to the Principles for Responsible Banking, to make the PRB Academy’s educational resources available to their several million employees. By preparing banking professionals across their organisations worldwide, signatories build the knowledge and skills required to deliver on their commitments under the Principles and address the challenges posed by climate change, nature loss, pollution, and social issues.

To celebrate the first-year anniversary, PRB signatories are being offered an additional 10% discount (an overall discount of 30%) on PRB Academy courses until 7 November. To learn more and register, visit the PRB Academy website here.

More on the Principles for Responsible Banking

The Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB), the world’s foremost sustainability framework for the banking sector, recently marked its fourth anniversary. Launched in 2019, the Principles are unprecedented in their scale and scope, bringing banks across the world together to work on the most challenging and critical topics facing humanity and the environment. Since then, the membership has seen growth from 130 founding banks to 325, representing almost 50% of the global banking industry by assets.

The Principles provide a unique framework for embedding sustainability into bank’s strategies and transforming strategic ambition into action with concrete steps for operationalisation. Member banks benefit from step-by-step support guiding them along a clear implementation journey. The Principles are transforming the banking sector, driving real systemic change.

To read more on the year 4 update including comprehensive factsheets, visit here.