12 November 2020. Banco Santander has created a quality mark to grade the sustainability of companies with up revenue of up to €50 million in order to help them obtain a rating that distinguishes them to their customers and suppliers, either public or private; and to structure, understand and improve the information and the level of implementation of sustainability areas that may be required in certain public tenders. This is the first sustainability rating designed for this segment that exists in the market with the independent endorsement of AENOR.
The model allows the grading of companies according to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Criteria and assesses various aspects such as the consumption of resources or waste management in the environmental dimension, equal opportunities and professional development at social level, or whether ethical criteria are taken into account in the company's management in terms of corporate governance.
The process is very simple and 100% digital. The tool developed allows small and medium-sized companies to know their degree of sustainability through a simple questionnaire, which, once completed, provides a preliminary rating with several levels: starter, basic, advanced and expert. Moreover, It also allows them to obtain a customised report with improvement plans and a guide to best practices. To grant the definitive sustainability index, customers can access the AENOR online audit. At a later stage, the evidence is calibrated and the final level verified, with the possibility of being granted a public recognition of the certificate.
This service, which is also offered to large companies that want to know the degree of sustainability of their suppliers and customers, will be available within the Santander One Empresas offer, the bank's new range of services and differentiated products for businesses, which also includes financial support services and commercial guidance, support for business management, optimising relationships with suppliers and digitisation of payments, among others.
Commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals
This rating and certification model is closely linked to the Sustainable Development Goals with which Banco Santander is firmly committed. The targets include a commitment to raise over €120 billion between 2019 and 2025 and €220 billion between 2019 and 2030 in green financing to help address climate change.
Santander is the bank with the highest volume of assets managed in socially responsible investment (SRI) funds in our country. In Spain, Santander Asset Management is a leader in sustainability, managing around 58% of socially responsbily investment (SRI) fund assets according to the latest data from Inverco at the end of June, with the largest fund of these characteristics, the Santander Sostenible RF 1-3, holding assets of over €1.3 billion. Santander's commitment to this type of product dates back to 1995, when the Inveractivo Confianza FI Fund was created, the first SRI fund in Spain.
In addition, it was the first entity to launch a range of sustainable funds, comprising a fund of 'green bonds' (Santander Sustainable Bonds), two mixed funds with different market exposure (Santander Sostenible 1 and 2) and a pure equity fund (Santander Sostenible Acciones). In 2018, it also launched the first fund to promote gender equality (Santander Equality Actions). To this end, the global initiative Santander GO, the new range of funds sent to third-party managers, which includes the sustainable fund Santander GO Global Equities ESG, managed by Boston Partners (Robeco). It also has Santander Responsabilidad Solidario, a mixed fixed-income ethical fund that has donated over €1.6 billion over the last five years.
Documents
Portugal