An Appeal to Bankers

The United Nations, supported by 193 UN members recently adopted the Sustainable Development Agenda, which features seventeen ambitious goals aimed at radically improving our planet by 2030; making it more sustainable and more equitable for all.

Relevant and significant goals for a world in need of deep change.

However, the adoption of those goals by the United Nations, while an important milestone, is not enough. We need a majority of countries collaborating to adopt the seventeen sustainable development goals, and that adoption needs to be supported by citizens, and the political and economic sectors, to facilitate lasting change.

If there is one sector whose commitment to sustainable development goals is of a paramount importance, it is banking.

Although, it would indeed help, I do not mean that all banks should be devoting a small part of their profits to charitable initiatives in line with the sustainable development goals. I’m talking about something else, something deeper, and something that could radically change the face of our planet.

Banks are economic players, intermediaries of savers/investors and borrowers/investees. Banks have an opportunity to rethink their role in society, to place themselves back in service of the people, organisations and communities that entrust them with their hard earned cash. Banks can be incredibly powerful catalysts for positive economic, social and environmental change.  And banks can have it both ways: maximizing good profits for shareholders and stakeholders in the long term, and supporting a more equitable, healthier and balanced world. 

A great first (and simple step) for banks is to incorporate positive screening criteria in their lending policies to ensure they invest in more responsible and transparent ways. A second step is to use criteria based upon the sustainable development goals to ensure they are finding ways to invest their people, capital and resources to create positive impact.

Banks belonging to the GABV (www.gabv.org) have been successfully and profitably practicing this kind of banking for decades.

Why isn’t all banking done this way?

If the banking industry shifted even some of their activities to support the UN’s sustainable development goals in the way described above, trillions of USD would be invested in organisations and initiatives all over the world in a way that would also gently push borrowers/investors to act in a way more aligned to the UN’s Sustainable Development Agenda.

This would really make a change, this is worthwhile. So, what are you waiting for?