Engaging stakeholders for impact
“If we are talking about contributing to society’s goals and meeting society’s biggest challenges, no single institution, no single organisation can do that alone.”
– Sasha Courville, General Manager, Social Impact and Corporate Affairs, NAB, Australia
Banks are at the heart of an enormous network of relationships with individuals and organisations throughout every society and community. Working with stakeholders, signatory banks can achieve much greater impact and drive change that would not be possible alone.
Partnering to share expertise
Signatory banks are being creative and open regarding the organisations they partner with. Many are reaching out to academic institutions, government bodies, non-profit trusts and foundations and others in pursuit of innovative ways to invest in positive social and environmental outcomes. In these partnerships, banks bring and gain access to knowledge and expertise, and they are also challenged to listen to new perspectives and take on board fresh ideas.
Creating new partnerships
The depth and variety of the partnerships emerging are striking. For some banks, this means engaging with national climate change campaigns. For others, it is initiating new working relationships with other banks, or with non-profit organisations. There are examples of new co-financing arrangements targeting energy efficient buildings, and innovation projects to promote recycling, or to jointly provide new services, such as energy audits.
One bank has worked with its national central bank and banking association creating the country’s sustainable taxonomy – a classification system for sustainable activities.
One bank analysed nearly 10,000 survey responses from stakeholders to establish the 24 key issues around sustainable development that they care about.
One bank partnered with the municipal authorities and a Community Response Fund to distribute millions of dollars to frontline organizations supporting vulnerable and marginalized populations in the community.