As Piraeus Group has set as its strategic objective the sustainable growth, banking and investments, it closely monitors continuous developments in the changing legislative and regulatory framework and adapts accordingly investment products and services, as well as the process of the relevant investment-decisions making and providing investment advice, in order not only to meet the requirements of the applicable legislation and supervisory authorities , but also the increased interest of investors in products and services with sustainable investment characteristics and objectives.
Piraeus Group has been developing sustainability policies since 2004. In 2020 it drafted the Sustainable Development Policy, which reflects the Group's holistic approach to sustainability and aims to set strategic guidelines for its support, promotion and financing. The Policy reinforces the Group's intentions to contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement and aligns its operation with the UNEP-FI Principles for Responsible Banking.
Piraeus Group operates in line with its ESG Strategy and the Climate Change Strategy, with the aim to reduce its carbon footprint, support investments in RES projects and energy saving projects, assess the risk stemming from climate change for businesses operating in Greece, develop solutions in order for businesses to adapt to the new climate environment.
The active participation of Piraeus Group in international initiatives for corporate sustainability and the promotion of sustainable development and banking is continuous. The Group is a member of the UN Global Compact and the UN Environment Program Finance Initiative - UNEP FI, where it also serves on its Banking Board. The Group is signatory of the Principles for Responsible Banking and participates in UNEP FI's Collective Commitment to Climate Action (CCCA), pledging to align its portfolio with financing sustainable development in order to limit the increase of average temperature to 1.5o Celsius. Following from the CCCA, Piraeus has joined the Science Based Targets initiative, in order to establish scientifically documented targets for reducing its environmental footprint. Piraeus also participates in various UNEP FI working groups such as the Impact Assessment, and EU Taxonomy (jointly with EBF) with the objective of developing tools and ESG evaluation criteria. In order to strengthen the business actions that protect the natural environment, the Group has signed the international "Finance for Biodiversity Pledge" and is actively involved in the EU Business@Biodiversity Platform. Finally, Piraeus Asset Management is a member of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) for their adoption and implementation.
Aiming to reduce the environmental footprint from its operation, Piraeus Bank has developed strategies and implements an Environmental Management System (EMS). Since 2011, it has been registered in the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) and the EMS is certified according to the international standard ISO 14001:2015. This includes direct (Scope 1), indirect (Scope 2) and other indirect greenhouse gas emissions from its activities (Scope 3). The Group seeks to be climate neutral by 2030 in relation to its internal operations and by 2050 in terms of emissions attributed to its financing.
Piraeus Bank has acknowledged that its financing to businesses may involve environmental and social risks beyond financial risks, and has therefore been implementing an Environmental & Social Risk Management System (ESMS) since 2017. It applies environmental and social criteria to the evaluation process of all new business financing in order to mitigate and manage the aforementioned risks.
Furthermore, it is moving forward in 2021 to developing a roadmap for the full integration of climate and ESG risks into both risk management and decision-making in order for the Group to fully meet the regulatory guidance of the European Central Bank.
As part of its climate strategy, Piraeus Bank calculates annually the climate exposure of its business customers based on their turnover, who operate in selected sectors that may be economically affected by climate change. For this calculation, it has developed a unique software tool, the Climate Risk Management Model, which is being currently upgraded to align with emerging updates to climate risk management, such as the TCFD recommendations and UNEP FI climate scenarios proposals.
For its holistic approach to sustainability and sustainable banking, Piraeus Bank is continuously evaluated by prominent ESG rating indices (MSCI, ISS, CDP, Vigeo-Eiris, CRI), which include in their lists the companies with the highest corporate sustainability performance worldwide, applying economic, environmental and social criteria.
