ING Direct 2008 Annual Report Download - page 51

ING Group Annual Report 2008
49
Corporate responsibility
Sustainable approach to support long-term priorities
Key points
> Signing up to the UN Principles for Responsible
Investment (PRI)
> Financial education initiatives around the world
> Thousands of children in school via the ING
Chances for Children programme
> Independent sustainable benchmarks and
indices, such as Dow Jones Sustainability Index
and the FTSE4Good Index, recognise ING’s
effort in the field of CR by increasing our
individual sustainability scores
The current financial crisis has damaged trust in our industry.
We believe that responsible behaviour is crucial in earning
and maintaining the confidence of our stakeholders. Clarity
about financial strength, business models and products is
essential, as is a clear customer focus and transparency
about the way we operate. This includes our responsibilities
to our employees and our duty to manage the broader social
and environmental impact of our business activities.
CLEAR STRATEGY
Our corporate responsibility strategy is an integral part of our
business and is built on our Business Principles. These principles
give us guidance on matters such as the environment and human
rights, as well as our responsibilities towards our stakeholders. We
consider them to be the fundaments for confidence of customers,
employees, investors and business partners in ING.
ING aims at taking part in society in a positive and responsible way.
We have our own vision on ethical social and environmental topics,
which is translated into clear policies. These apply all over the
world and to all market circumstances. We continuously keep track
of how stakeholders perceive ING, which issues are important to
them and what we can do to meet their expectations. An open
shareholder dialogue helps us to understand issues and concerns
and to adapt our policies, where necessary.
Our corporate responsibility strategy is based on main focus areas
which are formulated in six key pillars. This helps us to continue to
focus on achieving our objectives, to measure our performance
and to meet our commitment of continuous improvement.
We believe that the integration of sustainability issues into our
strategy is essential for our licence to operate. It contributes to
our success by earning and maintaining trust, enabling us to recruit
and retain talented employees, continuing strong stakeholder
relationships, taking advantage of new business opportunities
and managing risk.
Key points of ING’s corporate responsibility
We lend and invest responsibly
We offer our customers sustainable products
We are inclusive and clear
We play an active role in the community
We manage our impact on the environment
We engage our employees in sustainability
Responsible lending and investing
Performance is not only about demanding targets. Sometimes it
also means refraining from a certain business activity or transaction
in order to live up to our standards. We avoid business dealings
that are not in line with our vision on sustainability. When making
ethical choices, we take into consideration the expectation that
our customers, employees, shareholders and society have of us.
This has led to policies with regard to not financing cluster
bombs or landmines, nor financing projects in countries such
as Burma and Sudan.
In 2008, we actively sought the views of various stakeholders, not
only to hold up the mirror to our own business practices, but also
to exchange ideas and knowledge. Key issues that were discussed
include climate change, controversial weapons and human rights.