CSR policy
Sustainable food security
One of the biggest issues the world faces is how it will be able to feed nine billion people by
2050. Not only will the global population increase by two billion, but rising prosperity will also
lead to an increase in the consumption of animal produce and fruit and vegetables, rather than
starchy cereal products and root vegetables. Given these developments and the growing
demand for grain, sugar and oilseed for the production of biofuels, food production will need
to increase by some 70% in the future.
'Sustainability and Security of the Global Food Supply Chain', a Rabobank study published at
the end of 2010, was a wake-up call for stakeholders within the food and agri sector that
demonstrated the need for food chains to become more sustainable from the perspective of
their strategic interest in global political and economic stability. During the year under review,
a strategy for sustainably increasing food production was looked into further. It has become
increasingly clear that the solution to the global food problem is in the hands of small
agribusinesses that account for 90% on average of all agribusinesses in developing countries,
where they farm 60% to 80% of the agricultural land. New forms of collaboration, both among
farmers (cooperatives) and throughout the value chain, are needed in order to harness the
potential these businesses have for food production. Major investments are required. The good
news is that the international agricultural sector and the public sector are becoming more and
more aware of this fact and are cautiously experimenting.
Socially responsible services: investment
In 2011Rabobank Nederland chose to structure all of its investment services according to
three sustainability criteria. First, Rabobank asked investment fund providers to sign the United
Nations Principles for Responsible Investment. Providers that sign the principles give a
commitment to take environmental, social and corporate governance issues into account in
their investment practices.
The second element, the Global Compact (GC), is another initiative of the United Nations. The GC
covers aspects such as respecting human rights, combating corruption and child labour, and
encouraging the diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies. Rabobank uses these
guiding principles as a frame of reference in its investment services.
The final element is Rabobank's policy on investing in the defence industry.This states that the
bank does not provide finance to businesses involved in the production of controversial
weapons, such as landmines, cluster munitions, nuclear weapons and biological weapons.
Research has shown that investing responsibly does not have an adverse effect on returns.
On the contrary, there is an increasing amount of evidence that businesses that focus on
sustainability perform better than average in terms of'normal' business variables and market
position. This is because they have a more motivated workforce, have lower financing costs
and are less likely to receive claims for compensation.
Socially responsible services: corporate lending
Implementing corporate social responsibility in all services is a substantial task that Rabobank
has been working on for some time. The introduction of corporate social responsibility in
investment services in 2011 followed a similar process concerning services to our corporate
clients. Rabobank offers transparent services and support to clients looking to make their own
businesses more sustainable, working both with them and for them.
The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises were revised and re-adopted in 2011As part
of this, among other things the new UN Framework for Business and Fluman Rights came into
effect (the 'Ruggie Framework'). Changes such as these to international standards and rules
mean that internal regulations need to be updated on a regular basis. For this reason, in 2011
all of the international treaties signed by Rabobank were transposed into a revision of the
internal CSR guidelines for lending and asset management. We also developed a coherent
framework for our CSR policy, as outlined below.
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Strategic Framework Sound sustainability policy
