Garanti BBVA, once again, is the only Bank from Turkey in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index
Garanti BBVA, once again, is the only Bank from Turkey in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index
Garanti BBVA has once again included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index (DJSI), one of the most prestigious platforms, which is evaluating the sustainability performance of corporate firms around the world. Garanti BBVA is the only company based in Turkey that is included in the index for five consecutive years.
Once again Garanti BBVA continued to be the sole Bank in Turkey, entering the Emerging Markets category of Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). Garanti BBVA has a place in this index which is evaluating the corporations through various topics, such as; ethics, corporate governance, financing practices, sustainable finance, environmental and social risk management in the entire value chain, risk management, measures taken to tackle climate change, transparency, supply chain, and human and labor rights.
Garanti BBVA continues to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals through innovative applications such as, the loan agreement signed for the financing of the wind farm, which will be the largest in Turkey once operational, was structured as a “Gender Loan”, a first not only in Turkey but also worldwide. Furthermore, last year the Bank issued Turkey’s first Social Bond, the first Green Loan in Turkey signed with Zorlu Energy and the first Green Project Finance Loan in Turkey signed with Akfen Renewable Energy has led the Bank to have a place in one of the most prestigious indexes DJSI as the only Bank from Turkey.
Garanti BBVA, is the only founding member of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative from Turkey, with its environmental, social and corporate governance practices integrated to all its operations in line with international standards. Despite the criteria that become more challenging each year and keen competition in the DJSI, Garanti BBVA have been included in the index for five times in a row this year and carrying on this success in a consistent manner.
“We are taking initiatives about topics like sustainable financing, climate change, and gender equality”
Proud of being the only bank from Turkey included in the index for five times in a row, Recep Baştuğ, the CEO of our bank, stated, “Our leading and pioneering role in sustainable development is reflecting on all of our activities. We take a great pride in repeating one of the most significant achievements possible in responsible and sustainable banking. For many years, by closely following the global developments, we have been offering the distinctive, unique, best and the most effective solutions in this area. Thanks to our innovative practices that we adapt to our country's conditions, we not only encourage our bank, but also our customers to adopt sustainable business models.” Baştuğ also stated that the Green Loan structure, which we have begun to offer last year, is one of the finest examples and he said, “ We have recently launched a Gender Loan structure which has been another milestone in our initiatives such as sustainable finance, climate change and gender equality. Given the keen competition and ever challenging conditions of the world, it is no longer possible to progress by considering financial indicators only. All companies should consider the non-financial indicators as much as the financial indicators in their risk management and product development processes. In that sense, several companies in Turkey made a great progress. We sincerely wish the number of Turkish companies included in this particular index and other similar indices to increase.”
BBVA is one of the 9 banks in Europe that has a place in the Index
The Index includes 25 banks in total which are in a global level that is including BBVA from Europe with 9 other banks.
BBVA achieved the highest possible score in financial inclusion and occupational health and safety, and high scores in other areas such as climate strategy, environmental reporting and corporate citizenship and philanthropy.