In 2012, Rabobank Group's sustainability and cooperative policy will be integrated and also
become more closely geared to both our way of banking and our key role in international food
security. This may have an impact on the KPIs for CSR.
Progress into day-to-day operations
In 2011policy frameworks were improved along with the internal monitoring system and
the KPIs for sustainability. In addition, the internal monitoring of KPIs was incorporated more
effectively into the control cycle and the management reports to the Executive Board.
During the year under review the group entities took steps to integrate sustainability more in
day-to-day commercial and other operations. Furthermore, the strive towards achieving the
sustainability ambition at group level, and the contribution made by individual group entities
towards this, can be clearly seen. While this is an improvement on previous years, there are still
some group entities that are not yet at the required level. In this context, it should be noted
that reporting on the KPIs and targets is not a goal in itself but a means of monitoring trends in
the area of sustainability.
The'CSR made-to-measure project'for local Rabobanks was launched and implemented in 2011.
In this project, 50 local Rabobanks with above-average scores in the internal sustainability
themes report go into greater depth on increasing sustainability in the policy plan. Two of the
participants in the made-to-measure project, Rabobank Flevoland and Rabobank Ridderkerk
Midden-IJsselmonde, provide interesting examples. During the year under review, Rabobank
Flevoland set up a sustainability desk. Flevoland is the Dutch province that generates the
largest amount of renewable energy, and, with many sustainable projects in its portfolio,
Rabobank Flevoland launched its sustainability desk in 2011, bringing together all of Rabobank's
know-how and green products, ranging from investment funds to insurance policies. In this way,
businesses wanting to make their operations more sustainable are provided with comprehensive
advisory services.
In 2011Rabobank Ridderkerk Midden-IJsselmonde became the principal banker to the
municipality of Barendrecht, which wants to become one of the leading municipalities in the
Netherlands terms of sustainability. CSR was therefore a specific consideration in its decision to
choose Rabobank. By acting as principal banker, the bank wants to make an active contribution
towards the implementation of sustainability in the municipality. In this way, Rabobank is
combining its local presence and experience with specific knowledge of the local government
sector. All local Rabobanks will be provided with details of the best practices from the CSR
made-to-measure project. In 2012, the project and the associated assistance will once again be
available to a group of local Rabobanks.
In summary, the improvement of the policy frameworks, the adjustment of the CSR monitoring
system, the improvements concerning the KPIs and reporting to the Executive Board, and the
CSR made-to-measure project were four coherent projects which were the subject of specific
investments in 2011 and which reinforced the link between the CSR themes and Rabobank's
commercial activities.
Scores for CSR KPIs showed a positive trend in 2011With regard to the first CSR KPI, helping
clients move towards sustainable business operations, the total amount of sustainable
financing stood at EUR 6.2 billion, up from EUR 5.7 billion. The second CSR KPI, helping clients
make responsible investments, showed an increase in sustainable assets under management
and held in custody from EUR 52.4 billion to EUR 61.6 billion. As regards the third CSR KPI,
supporting community partnerships, the total cooperative dividend in the year under review
rose from EUR 116 million to EUR 122 million. This rise was primarily attributable to the
cooperative funds of local Rabobanks. Finally, the fourth CSR KPI, providing climate-neutral
and energy-efficient services, showed that the target for reducing carbon emissions, which was
to be attained by the end of 2013, was already achieved in 2011.
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Strategic Framework Sound sustainability policy
