Corporate social responsibility report
Our contribution to sustainable development
In a rapidly changing world, Rabobank aims to remain a strong, socially engaged bank, which is why we
have drawn up the Strategic Framework 2016-2020. Our ambition is to be the most customer-focused
bank in the Netherlands and a leading food and agri bank worldwide. Based on our two strategic pillars
of Banking for the Netherlands and Banking for Food, we are working with customers and business
partners towards building a successful and meaningful cooperative Rabobank. One of the key aspects
of these pillars is the Sustainably Successful Together memorandum in which describe our focus and
ambitions regarding our contribution to sustainable development up to 2020.
Contents Management report Corporate governance Consolidated financial statements Financial statements Pillar 3
We give our cooperative a recognisable, unique identity
that sets us apart from other banks (see section Strategy).
As a cooperative bank, Rabobank works with its corporate
clients and retail customers to fulfil its ambitions for
a sustainable society.
Not only do we want to support our retail customers and
corporate clients in their efforts to become sustainable, we also
want to help speed up the work to make global agriculture and
food supply sustainable and to contribute towards more vital
communities.The world's population can be fed responsibly
if it is done in a sustainable manner, and the Netherlands is
showing the way in that regard. Sustainability is integrated
into the four pillars of our Banking for Food strategy: increasing
the availability of food, improving access to food, promoting
a balanced diet and improving the stability of food chains.
In 2015, the 193 Member States of the United Nations adopted
a new, long-term development agenda with seventeen
ambitious, long-term objectives.The ambition behind these
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a world that is free of
poverty, hunger and disease by 2030. Solutions are also needed
for problems related to water, sanitation, climate and energy,
among other things. Rabobank's sustainability ambitions
contribute to the realisation of these SDGs. In appendix 9. we
show how our ambitions fit in with the SDGs.
Sustainability ambitions
We become sustainably successful together by linking our
financial services, knowledge and relevant networks to the
ambitions of our customers. The group-wide sustainability
goals are:
7. Strengthening community vitality
In the Netherlands, we focus on topical and local social
problems such as sustainability, economic vitality and
quality of life in care facilities and in housing. In developing
countries, we focus on contributing towards establishing and
professionalising farming organisations and providing access to
the local financial infrastructure for everyone.
2. Accelerating sustainable agriculture and food supply
We focus on making food and agri value chains more
sustainable on a global scale.
3. Collaboration with corporate clients
We encourage and support all our corporate clients in their
efforts to gradually make their businesses more sustainable.
4. Advising retail customers
We combine the best financial advice with a positive
contribution to sustainable development.
5. Our commitment
Our contribution to sustainable development is provided by
professional staff who consider sustainability an obvious part of
customer service. We integrate sustainability into our internal
business operations and communicate transparently about our
vision and activities.
52 Rabobank Annual Report 2015
