RBS 2010 Annual Report Download - page 47

45RBS Group 2010
Sustainability
Our five key themes
Fair banking
We are committed to treating our customers to the highest of standards,
and being transparent about the products and services they can expect
from us. This theme covers: responsible lending practices, customer
service (including dealing with customer complaints), access to financial
services, and financial education.
Supporting enterprise
One of our main responsibilities is to provide tailored support to a broad
range of businesses. There are a number of ways that we demonstrate
our commitment to enterprises: from lending to small and medium
enterprises (SMEs), to funding microfinance institutions in India, to
making finance available to social enterprises and facilitating youth
enterprise through working with partners
Employee engagement
Our employees are the core of our organisation and it is very important
that we treat them fairly and responsibly. It has been a difficult year for
some of them as we continue to restructure the Group. So it’s vital that as
we build the new RBS we support our people throughout these changes
by involving and listening to them as much as possible.
Safety and security
Protecting the security of our customers’ money and data is a
fundamental responsibility of the Group. We have continued to invest
heavily in the prevention of financial crime. This theme also includes how
we safeguard the safety, health and wellbeing of our employees.
Citizenship and environmental sustainability
As a global organisation we have to manage our broader economic,
social and environmental impacts. This includes wider citizenship issues
such as business and human rights and bribery and corruption as well
as environmental concerns. We fully support the transition to the more
sustainable use of natural resources.
How others have judged us
Every year independent, external bodies judge our performance and
compare us with our peers.
We received the AA1000 (2008) reporting and assurance accreditation for
our 2008 and 2009 annual Sustainability Reports. We were also short-listed
for the ICSA/Hermes award for best sustainability and stakeholder
disclosure for the Sustainability Report 2009.
We have participated in the Carbon Disclosure Project since its inception
and in 2010 received the joint highest score for financial services
globally, scoring 93 and an ‘A’ rating for performance, a significant
improvement since 2009. We were also included in the Dow Jones
Sustainability Index for the third year running, scoring 75%, and in the
FTSE4Good index.
Newsweek magazine placed us 27th in their recent ‘Green Rankings’
where three environmental research organisations ranked the world’s
100 biggest listed companies across a number of environmental issues.
Our community programmes
We recognise our responsibility to play an active role in the communities
we serve. This begins with providing the services our customers want,
and operating in a sustainable way. We then go further through our
community programmes, which allow us to make more of a difference
in areas that we can have an impact. Our efforts centre on our
MoneySense, Supporting Enterprise, and Employee and Community
Engagement programmes.
MoneySense
The aim of our MoneySense programme is to increase financial
education, capability and inclusion, which is part of our wider
commitment to Fair Banking.
We continued to invest in our Group MoneySense programmes in 2010.
We improved and expanded our MoneySense for Schools programmes
by developing new online resources, holding teacher training days and
completing the 3rd annual MoneySense Panel Research. This research
revealed the attitudes towards money of over 10,000 12-19 year olds.
The 2nd annual RBS Personal Finance Education Awards for Schools
recognised the 2010 achievements of primary and secondary schools.
Ulster Bank extends MoneySense
Building on its commitment to widen
access to financial education, Ulster
Bank launched its own MoneySense for
Single Parents Guide in 2010. This was
produced with OPEN in the Republic of
Ireland and Gingerbread in Northern
Ireland. This is the first in a set of
financial ‘life guides’ designed to give
more practical support based on
people’s specific circumstances.