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In March, LHV Group officially joined the UN Principles for Responsible Banking, and has prepared an action plan for delivering on promises made. Among other things, LHV plans to make its activities climate-neutral in 2022, following the aim to specify loan and investment principles, and to also support the movement of our clients and the Estonian financial sector towards greener options.

According to the CEO of LHV Group Madis Toomsalu, LHV is committed to sustainable activities. “The desire to remain active for the long run requires a long-term perspective and taking responsibility. Environmentally friendly behaviour is not ideological, since the benefits gained from this, such as cleaner nature or more efficient resource use, are certainly valuable as goals. We focus on sub-objectives established within different climate agreements which are also topical in Estonia – more efficient use of energy and resources, longer product lifetime, circular economy, less waste, and a cleaner environment”, commented Toomsalu.

“LHV wishes to be greener from here on out – our action plan for the coming years envisages setting right both our organisation and our office, providing green choices to our clients, and also the wish to help the Estonian economy in general to transition to a greener method of operation’, Toomsalu added. The colour of capital in the future is green, and ignoring this may become costly”.

Among other things, LHV’s green action plan provides for:

• measuring and reducing LHV’s carbon footprint,
• achieving climate neutrality in LHV’s own activities in 2022,
• applying for Green Office Certification,
• mapping the environmental effect of LHV products,
• updating the credit policy and investment policy of the financial group,
• offering environmentally friendly financial products to clients,
• supporting cooperation within the sector to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable foundation,
• actively participating in working groups on UN Principles for Responsible Banking,
• regularly and transparently reporting on the results of activities.

Achievement of the objectives adopted with the decision of the Estonian Government to support the European Union climate strategy requires the common effort of society as a whole and all sectors. At that, the financial sector has a central role to play in the adjustment of the economy – through issuing loans and investing, banks can direct cash flows to sustainable activities that support the transition to a climate-neutral economy.

The UN Principles for Responsible Banking are a single framework for a sustainable banking industry developed through an innovative partnership between banks worldwide and the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative. The Principles for Responsible Banking set out the banking industry’s role and responsibility in shaping a sustainable future, and in aligning the banking sector with the objectives of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. They also, importantly, enable a bank to embed sustainability across all its business areas, and to identity where it has the potential to make the most impact in its contributions to a sustainable world. They also position a bank to leverage new business opportunities with the emergence of the sustainable development economy.

Pursuant to the UN Principles for Responsible Banking, LHV has four years to implement these activities; however, rapid progress has been made with different projects. LHV involves experts and stakeholders, cooperates with them, and promises to be more open and transparent in its activities.

More information: www.lhv.ee/en/green

LHV Group is the largest domestic financial group and capital provider in Estonia. LHV Group's key subsidiaries are LHV Pank and LHV Varahaldus. LHV employs over 460 people. LHV’s Banking Services are used by 219,000 clients, and pension funds managed by LHV have 178,000 active clients. Additionally, LHV’s UK branch offers banking infrastructure to more than 120 financial service providers, that in turn intermediate LHV’s payment services to their customers around the world.