25 GRI Index and Assurance statement Engaged citizen Fair partner Responsible banker Human Capacity Report Sustainability management Overview Foreword Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) In order to help find solutions for global challenges, promote human welfare and protect the environment, the international community of states making up the UN adopted “Agenda 2030” in September 2015 in the interests of sustainable development. At its core are 17 goals for sustainable development, the so-called Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their 169 sub-goals. The SDGs encompass social and economic development as well as environmental sustainability. They also address aspects such as peace and security, justice and global partnerships, all of which are of great importance for sustainable development. The SDGs are globally applicable. In other words, all 193 UN member states, including Austria, are called upon to contribute to achieving the goals according to their means. Incentives should also be established to encourage non-state actors to increasingly make active contributions to sustainable development. As an international banking group, we consider ourselves obliged to support these important international initiatives within the scope of our sustainability agenda. Our focus lies on those SDGs that are most material and relevant to our business activities and that best complement our sustainability strategy. To make this possible, we worked with an external consultant to create a structured process to identify the SDGs that are most material to our business. This process comprised a number of steps: 1. In the first step, we explored the existing connections between the SDGs and our areas of strategic focus as well as the key issues and initiatives of the RZB Group. We also investigated which SDGs have been placed on the agendas of other financial companies. 2. Based on this analysis, Group Sustainability Management evaluated the top SDG topics in a workshop with the external consultant on the basis of specific criteria. The following four criteria were of primary importance here: • The relationship with the RZB Group: How closely is an SDG related to the RZB Group? • Importance: Group Sustainability Management examined how important it is for the RZB Group to contribute to this global goal. 2. • Impact: The impact that the RZB Group can actually have on the respective goal was evaluated. • Attractiveness: Finally, we evaluated what potential this SDG could have for the RZB Group.
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