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Sustainability governance
Our sustainability governance
A clear and solid governance is key to achieving our ambitious sustainability strategy
At UniCredit, the Board of Directors approves the Group strategy.
In support of the Board, the Corporate Governance, Nomination and Sustainability Committee (CGN&S) is also responsible for supervising sustainability topics within our Group.
The CGN&S plays a key role in ensuring that sustainability is fully embedded in the Group's business strategy as an important component of the business model.
The Committee also supervises ethics matters, supported in this task by the Chief Ethics Officer who is in charge of fostering a Do the right thing! culture with all stakeholders, as well as providing Group guidelines on ethical topics.
The Committee monitors the evolution of sustainability, in accordance with international guidelines and principles, monitoring the Group's performance whilst proactively aligning with stakeholders.
At executive level, the Executive Management Committee, chaired by the Group CEO, defines the Group business strategies.
The Group Sustainability & Foundation structure supports the CGN&S and Group Management to define strategies and policies that incorporate sustainability criteria. Moreover, Group Sustainability & Foundation has a permanent member in the Group Reputational Risk Committee (GRRC), responsible for the assessment of the reputational risks of initiatives, bank transactions, projects, customers and other business activities.
Click here for more information on the Governance of UniCredit Group.
We have specific policies in place which contribute to human rights topics such as the Code of Conduct, the Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Global Policy, the Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Global Operational Regulation, the Whistleblowing Policy and the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering of Terrorist Financing (CTF) Policy, guided by our Ethics Manifesto as well as our Commitment to Human Rights.
Certain sectors and activities require a specialised approach to ensure that transactional and related risks are properly addressed.
We have developed detailed guidance policies for those sectors relevant to UniCredit that are susceptible to special environmental and social risks.
These policies are inspired by agreements, guidelines and standards (including the International Finance Corporation Performance Standards, the World Bank Group Environmental, Health and Safety Guidelines and the principles of the UN Global Compact), as well as other practices widely employed by specific industries.
| Policies, statements and commitments | Objective | Download document |
|---|---|---|
| Rainforests | The commitment ensures that our activity does not aid deforestation or forest degradation, unless appropriately mitigated | Rainforests |
| Defense/Armament | The policy regulates financial involvement with companies from the defence/armaments industry | Defence/weapons Industry |
| Arctic and non conventional oil | The policy establishes standards and guidelines that address the risks associated with financing the Arctic and Non-Conventional Oil & Gas Industry | Artic and non conventional Oil & Gas |
| Coal Sector | The policy establishes standards and guidelines that address the risks associated with financing the coal sector | Coal Fired Power Generation |
| Mining | The policy establishes standards and guidelines that address the risks associated with financing mining operations | Mining Industry |
| Nuclear Energy | The policy regulates financial involvement with and address the challenges posed by the nuclear energy sector | Nuclear Energy |
| Water Infrastructure | The policy establishes standards and guidelines that address the risks associated with financing large water infrastructure projects, such as dams | Water Infrastructure Industry (Dams) |
| Human Rights | The commitment summarises the Group’s approach to human rights, focusing on some stakeholder categories such as employees, customers, suppliers and communities. It is based on international declarations and conventions, standards, principles, guidelines and recommendations | Human Rights |
| Modern Slavery | The statement describes the measures taken by UniCredit to mitigate the risk of slavery and human trafficking, within our businesses or our supply chain, in accordance with section 54 of the United Kingdom's Modern Slavery Act 2015 | 2019 Statement on Modern Slavery Act |
| 2018 Statement on Modern Slavery Act | ||
| 2017 Statement on Modern Slavery Act | ||
| 2016 Statement on Modern Slavery Act |
Engaging with stakeholders is essential to building trust.
We have an ongoing interaction with sustainability rating agencies, also supporting the increasing requests by investors for greater transparency, more stakeholder engagement and stronger sustainability management.
UniCredit has been a member of the FTSE4Good Index since 2001. Created by the global index company FTSE, FTSE4Good is an equity index series that is designed to facilitate investment in companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards.
Companies in the FTSE4Good Index Series have met stringent environmental, social and governance criteria, and are positioned to capitalise on the benefits of responsible business practice.
FTSE confirms that UniCredit has been independently assessed according to the FTSE4Good criteria, and has satisfied the requirements to become a constituent of the FTSE4Good Index Series.
Following the June 2019 review, the results from FTSE4Good ESG Ratings are also positive: UniCredit absolute score has obtained 5 out of 5. Moreover, our ICB Supersector Percentile (banking sector) is 99 out of 100, leading in governance, social and environmental pillars.
Standard Ethics is a European solicited rating agency on ESG issues. It provides rating and gap analysis for companies and countries aspiring to assessing their sustainable and responsible performance in compliance with EU, OECD and UN guidelines.
Standard Ethics has confirmed UniCredit's "EE+" rating. UniCredit is a component of the SE Italian Index, the SE Italian Banks Index, the SE European Banks Index, the SE European 100 Index and the SE European Best in Class Index. Standard Ethics states that UniCredit is one of Europe's centres of excellence in terms of sustainability.
For the first time in the banking sector, sustainability has been correctly interpreted as a systemic dimension and distinguished from other ethical or social responsibility approaches based on stakeholder theory or subjective management models. In fact, all areas of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) are aligned with voluntary recommendations emanating from the UN, OECD and the European Union.
Sustainalytics is a global leader in ESG and Corporate Governance research and ratings. Over the last 25 years, Sustainalytics has supported hundreds of the world's foremost investors who incorporate ESG and corporate governance insights into their investment processes.
Sustainalytics states that UniCredit is at medium risk of experiencing material financial impacts from ESG factors, due to its medium exposure and strong management of material ESG issues. UniCredit is noted for its strong corporate governance performance, which is reducing its overall risk.
CDP is a not-for-profit charity that runs a global disclosure system on environmental impacts, supporting thousands of companies and other actors, to measure and manage their risks and opportunities in the areas of climate change, water security and deforestation. CDP takes the information supplied in its annual reporting process and scores companies based on their journey through disclosure and towards environmental leadership.
UniCredit received a B score (Management band) which recognises the capability of ensuring coordinated action on climate change issues. This score is higher than the Europe regional average of C, and higher than the Financial services sector average of C.
ESG Targets