31 GRI Index and Assurance statement Engaged citizen Fair partner Responsible banker Human Capacity Report Sustainability management Overview Foreword and they should be offered the opportunity to contribute in various ways as well. One idea mentioned in this regard was the establishment of a think tank (on the topic of “Developing sustainable products”, for example). The RZB Group has many departments and employees, and each should ultimately make their own contribution. Sustainability topics often also entail personal value judgments. However, it cannot be expected that all employees share the same values. Inclusion can be voluntary, but need not always be, since specific requirements may be defined by the company. There will certainly be increasing external pressure due to the new EU Directive on mandatory sustainability reporting by large companies. This could also become a source of tension for those employees who have not previously concerned themselves with sustainability but will have to engage with the subject in the future. The more people take up the topic, the greater the multiplier effect will become finally. Impacts of the climate conference The participants in this workshop round identified the upcoming challenges for banks in connection with the consequences of climate change. In order to achieve the 2-degree target established at the climate conference in Paris (an 80 or 95 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, i.e. almost complete decarbonization), banks should in future stop providing financing to companies in fossil fuel industries. On the other hand, such restrictions for the finance sector will only make sense if all banks participate. In the discussion that followed, it was emphasized that different reduction opportunities exist depending on the starting situation of the company. Energy efficiency is viewed as the most important factor here. The question also arises as to how the energy efficiency of customers should be evaluated in the provision of loans. The topic of venture capital was also discussed, including what it is used for. Being able to achieve the climate protection goal will require a clear commitment on the part of the executive management and the inclusion of all employees. It is not sufficientto delegate this topic to a few people. Instead, a new relationship between climate experts and banking experts in the company is required as well as new competences, which will also give rise to new career types. Finally, the issue of the over-regulation of banks was discussed. A need was also seen for business model innovations (e.g. for environmental technology companies and R&D), and it was proposed that broad expertise in climate topics be built up within the bank. The wish was expressed for the RZB Group to remain a competent adviser to customers in future decisions and for venture capital to be made available to new technologies in the energy sector. There was also a desire for clear guidelines concerning what will be financed by the RZB Group and what will not, as well as an expansion of the climate policy. Investments in the community Investments in the community, a topic that was ranked in second place by both internal and external stakeholders in the online materiality survey at the start of 2016, was discussed intensively in this group. Starting with the question about the most urgent social challenges of today in which the RZB Group should get involved, the participants agreed that the answer is education (in particular financial education) as well as integration and helping people to help themselves. The topic of corporate volunteering (CV) was discussed in this regard, with a focus on assisting the unaccompanied child refugees at “Haus Roshan”. Here, the employees of RBI AG in Austria have been offered the opportunity to get involved socially for the first time – including on an hourly basis. The non-financial aspect and the socio-political statement by the Managing Board in respect of this project were viewed as particularly noteworthy. The signal sent by top management is very important with regard to corporate volunteering and should be an encouraging factor over the course of this sustained project. This led to the discussion about the definition of the term ‘corporate volunteering’ and the extent to which this commitment could be included as a sub-goal within the performance appraisal of employees. According to the discussion group, sending a signal of social responsibility as a company should also involve extending the commitment to the countries of our network banks in CEE. There were various perspectives on the question of how strategically
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