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Last year CaixaBank’s efforts to finance projects to improve environmental efficiency increased to €9 million, up from €4.7 million in 2013. This 91% rise caught Euromoney’s eye and is one of the reasons for the bank’s Achievement in CSR award.
Founded in Spain in 1908, CaixaBank has demonstrably had CSR in its core values since then. The 2011 transformation of the group into a listed bank rather than a savings bank did nothing to lessen the impact of the work by La Caixa Foundation and the bank.
Employment and housing are two areas in which CaixaBank has been particularly active in recent years as the financial crisis hammered the country. Housing schemes have helped find homes for young, elderly and economically vulnerable people.
In 2014 more than 14,000 home rentals were subsidized by the foundation while the bank has continued to provide mortgage relief.
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“Everyone knows us for being a part of the community. The work we are doing is more important than ever”
María Luisa Martínez |
“We have a deep crisis in Spain, so these efforts are needed,” says María Luisa Martínez, corporate director of communication, institutional relations, brand and CSR at the bank. “Everyone knows us for being a part of the community. The work we are doing is more important than ever.”
In 2014 the bank also took steps to strengthen procedures around environmental and social risk management associated with project finance transactions. A new project monitoring system was put in place and additional training sessions were run for project managers.
Microbank, the microfinance social bank 100% controlled by CaixaBank exceeded its targets last year. The bank offered €434 million in new microcredits and its outstanding loan book reached €672 million, beating targets of €361 million and €600 million respectively.
The bank has always supported corporate volunteering. In 2014, it established a new volunteer portal to bring new energy to the programme and increase the number of participants.
Last year’s 6,214 volunteers were involved in a range of activities. A particular focus was on reinforcing awareness of the importance of good finance to the public; a special webpage was launched, segmented by age (children and teachers in schools, young people and adults).
Internally the bank has worked to reduce paper consumption by encouraging employees to view documents in electronic formats. Various initiatives led to energy use falling by 7% during 2014. CaixaBank is also promoting virtual meetings to reduce the carbon footprint associated with corporate travel.
