Traditional banks are ahead of challenger banks in prioritising sustainability, though both consider it of less importance than in previous years.
Research by digital consultancy Mobiquity revealed the percentage of challenger bank C-suites stating sustainability as an important part of their business strategy had fallen to 67%, compared with 74% of C-suites surveyed in traditional banks, among an industry-wide fall from 2022 data.
Valentina Kristensen, director of growth and communications at OakNorth, said: “I’d like to think that all banks – incumbent and challenger – believe sustainability is important, but if they don’t yet have the scale, resource, or team expertise to make it a constant item on the board agenda, then they may not consider it a priority.”
Challenger bank OakNorth began its sustainability journey in 2018 when it became one of the first banks globally to become net zero for scope 1 and 2 emissions, said Kristensen.
In 2022, over 80% of UK banks had sustainability representatives at board level, compared with below 60% in 2023.
Since 2018, OakNorth has “hired a director of sustainability and ESG Strategy, published our first ever TCFD report, and set a number of ambitious net zero targets, including to be net zero for all our emissions (including scope 3) by 2035,” said Kristensen.
The report, “A global benchmark for sustainable banking 2023,” surveyed 600 C-suite banking executives across the United States, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Australia.
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