A Bank Dedicated to Protecting the Environment
Every ProCredit institution has set high standards regarding the environmental impact of its operations. Protecting the environment and ensuring that the economic development supported by the ProCredit institutions is as environmentally and socially sustainable as possible is a central component of ProCredit's group-wide development mission. As part of the ProCredit group, ProCredit Bank Albania regards protecting the environment and helping to slow the advance of climate change to be part of its corporate social responsibility and considers these endeavours to be critical components of socially responsible economic development.
In our operations, we seek to continuously reduce our negative environmental impact as well as that of our clients and to contribute to raising the awareness of our staff, clients and the public about environmental issues by implementing consistent and sustainable measures.
As a financial institution, ProCredit Bank Albania affects the environment mainly in terms of consumption of energy, water, paper and other materials, transportation and equipment, and building conditions. In terms of its activities, the bank also indirectly affects the environment through the services it provides to its clients (including banking services and financing) and through the services and products it consumes from external suppliers. Because we are aware of the fact that our activities have an environmental impact, we have elaborated and implemented an Environmental Policy.
Scope of Environmental Policy
The principles set forth in the Environmental Policy are adhered to by all employees of the bank in the Head Office and branch network, and by the staff engaged in outsourced activities provided by external parties, who are under the control of the bank. The Management Board is responsible for ensuring that the bank's staff are aware of the policy and that they comply with it, which is organised with the support of the respective units and departments.
ProCredit Bank Albania has implemented an internal system to minimize its negative impact on the environment, and also the negative impact of its clients which consists of the following three pillars:
| Internal Environmental Management System | Environmental Risk Management in Lending | Green Loans |
|---|---|---|
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This pillar refers to all internal measures taken by ProCredit Bank Albania to reduce its environmental impact. These measures include raising awareness and continuous training of staff in relation to environmental issues, at the same time paying particular importance to the design of energy efficiency measures for the branches and Head Office. In this framework, the bank reviewed its internal policies and administrative procedures with the aim of integrating and emphasising environmental criteria. The bank also created an environmental database in order to analyse its current level of consumption, monitor its environmental performance, identify problems and finally take the necessary environmental measures. The purpose of the measures and future investments is to improve the quality of service to bank customers, ensure more comfortable working conditions for our staff and make a direct contribution to environmental protection. As an added bonus, these investments lead to reduced energy and resource costs. |
The objective of this pillar is to reduce the environmental impact caused by the bank's lending activities. ProCredit Bank Albania has implemented an environmental management system based on continuous assessment of the loan portfolio according to environmental criteria, an in-depth analysis of all economic activities which potentially involve environmental risks, and the rejection of loan applications from enterprises engaged in activities which are deemed environmentally hazardous and appear on our institution's exclusion list. By incorporating environmental issues into the loan approval process, ProCredit Bank Albania is also able to raise its clients' overall level of environmental awareness. |
ProCredit Bank Albania aims to promote economic development that is environmentally sustainable. This pillar aims at improving the bank's external environmental performance through the design and provision of special credit services ("Eco loans") to both business and private clients for investments in energy efficiency (EE), renewable energies (RE) and environmentally friendly investments. |
