France’s Groupe Caisse d’Epargne, the country’s fourth-largest
banking group by assets, has announced a raft of ethical and
environment retail banking initiatives, including labellingits
products with details about the financial risks they carry, the
carbon intensity they carry or the activities they help finance,
and the inclusion of social and/or environmental criteria used in
the design of the products.
The system of labelling is part of a wider campaign by the
French group called Bénéfices Futur (Future Benefits), a
comprehensive programme that Nicolas Mérindol, CEO of Groupe Caisse
d’Epargne, says will redefine the group’s broad commitments in the
area of sustainable development.
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The move comes at a time of increased focus by banks around the
world on ethical and environmental issues (see RBI 571, 570,
569). HSBC, for instance, already one of the most proactive
banks in terms of corporate responsibility, has rolled out a number
of environmental options across its entire UK banking range,
coupled with various donations to a number of charities. It has
also introduced its Green Sales promotional campaigns in Asia
(see RBI 567). In the US, Citi and Bank of America, the
country’s two biggest banks, recently made $50 billion and $20
billion commitments, respectively, to ethical banking programmes,
policies and products.
Four priority areas
The Groupe Caisse d’Epargne has identified four priority areas:
commitments related to responsible marketing; combating climate
change; the development of socially responsible investing; and the
extension of its role as a bank founded on what it calls “social
solidarity”. Quantified targets and deadlines will be fixed,
actions will be monitored closely and results will be published,
states the group.
One new product being made available later this year is the Livret
A Kipouss passbook savings account: each Livret A opened following
the birth of a child will lead to a tree being sponsored in a
forest managed in line with criteria from environmental
organisation WWF . For every Livret A Kipouss, €1 ($1.40) will be
donated; the aim is to sponsor 30,000 trees in one year.
Mérindol said: “The origin of the Caisses d’Epargne and its ongoing
development has always included the awareness of social
responsibility. By giving a clear structure to our sustainable
development approach, by making it more legible and visible, by
innovating with ethical labelling, we want to demonstrate a strong
commitment that deliberately involves our customers, who are
encouraged to make more responsible choices.”
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By GlobalDataThe sustainable development labelling system will be applied to the
banking products and services from 2008. A panel – comprised of
representatives from Friends of the Earth, the Testé Pour Vous
consumer information organisation, the French Environment and
Energy Management Agency and WWF – will help with the choice of
labelling methods and provide the benefit of their critical
opinion.
Also in 2008, a Charter for Responsible Marketing covering the full
spectrum of customer relations will be drafted in liaison with the
Confédération de la consommation, du logement et du cadre de vie, a
consumer association.
Regarding climate change, the group says it will reduce its direct
carbon emissions by 3 percent per year.
In terms of the financing of local and social projects, the group
says it will undertake, as of 2008, to devote 1 percent of the net
banking income generated by the Caisses d’Epargne to social
activities and community programmes, and to finance 1,000 projects
dedicated to the environment in 2009.
