Making it work (governance)
Our sustainability governance:
We have anchored sustainability at the different levels within our group, guaranteeing that it receives attention from the highest decision-making bodies while also being broadly integrated into our operations.
A simplified overview is provided below. For more details and our specific governance in respect of climate change, we refer to our Sustainability Report.
The Board of Directors is kept informed by the Executive Committee about the sustainability strategy, including policy on climate change. The Risk & Compliance Committee oversees sustainability-related risks. The Board evaluates the implementation of the sustainability strategy using a Sustainability Dashboard and expresses its opinion on major changes to sustainability policies.
The Executive Committee is the highest level with direct responsibility for sustainability, including policy on climate change. It ratifies the decisions of the Internal Sustainability Board and the Sustainable Finance Steering Committee.
The Internal Sustainability Board (ISB) is chaired by the CEO and comprises senior managers from all business units and core countries, the CFO and the manager of the Corporate Sustainability department. It is the most important platform for managing sustainability at group level and takes decisions on all matters relating to sustainability.
The Corporate Sustainability department has a direct link to the CEO and is responsible for developing, implementing and supervising the sustainability strategy. It reports to the ISB and prepares the Sustainability Dashboard.
The Sustainable Finance Steering Committee supervises the Sustainable Finance Programme and is chaired by the CFO. It reports to the Executive Committee and the Board and maintains contact with the ISB.
The Sustainable Finance Programme Core Team is headed by a programme manager from the Corporate Sustainability department and is made up of specialists from Finance, Credit Risk and Group Risk as well as sustainability experts. It integrates the climate approach within the group and supports the business side in developing climate resilience in line with the TCFD and the EU action plan.
Corporate Sustainability Country Coordinators in each core country are responsible for integrating the ISB’s decisions and the goals of the Sustainable Finance Programme. This ensures that all core countries are sufficiently involved in both the strategic discussions and the implementation of the group-wide sustainability policy.
Country Sustainability departments and CSR Committees: the sustainability departments and committees in each of our core countries are organised in such a way as to support their senior managers, who sit on the Internal Sustainability Board, and the Corporate Sustainability Country Coordinator in integrating our sustainability strategy and organising and communicating local sustainability initiatives. Among other things, the employees and committees involved also supply and validate nonfinancial information.
The external advisory bodies advise KBC on different aspects of sustainability and consist of experts from the academic world. An External Sustainability Board advises the Corporate Sustainability department on sustainability policy and strategy. An SRI Advisory Board supervises the screening of the socially responsible character of KBC Asset Management’s SRI funds.