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Bank Ochrony Środowiska published their ESG report for 2021. It presents the impact of BOŚ on the environment - in particular in the field of environmental protection, social responsibility, and corporate governance. It also presents the bank's activities around sustainable development, which goes beyond the information and data presented as part of traditional financial reporting.

The year 2021 was a breakthrough year for BOŚ. During this time, the bank developed an ESG strategy closely related to the bank's business strategy for 2021-2023. Their ESG Strategy sets out the main directions of activities for sustainable development and contains a wide catalogue of activities, to which measurable goals have been assigned - including, among others, the goal of striving for climate neutrality.

In addition, in 2021, the bank strongly focused on: the development of green financial products and increasing their importance in business activities; improving the professional competences of employees; and was involved in social initiatives, including education in the field of sustainable development.

^{Photo by ANGELA BENITO on Unsplash}

Obtaining an ESG rating by Bank Ochrony Środowiska was an important element of the implementation of the strategy. In December 2021, the Sustainalytics agency awarded BOŚ an overall ESG Risk rating of 19.9, which means low exposure to the risk of a significant negative impact of ESG factors ("Low Risk"). The result of the ESG assessment placed BOŚ in the group of 18% of the best-rated banks and in the top 23% of nearly 15,000 companies worldwide surveyed by this agency, as of December 2021.

“The recently published ESG report for 2021 shows how dynamically Bank Ochrony Środowiska is changing and how much we have been able to do in the area of sustainable development in just one year. I am proud of the entire Bank's team, as it is our joint success. It is even more significant if we consider the uncertainty and volatility of market conditions surrounding us, related to, among others, with the COVID-19 pandemic. The report also shows that BOŚ successfully combines the implementation of business goals with environmental and social goals. We continue our efforts to further change our bank and support our partners even more intensively on their way to the green transformation,” - said Wojciech Hann, President of the Management Board of BOŚ SA.

Supporting the green transformation of the bank's customers

In 2021, BOŚ concluded 2,622 pro-ecological transactions in the total amount of PLN 1.67 billion (+24% y/y). The bank's customers completed over 2.6 thousand eco-investments with a total estimated value of PLN 2.86 billion (+291% y/y). The projects implemented last year contributed to the production of over 62,700 MWh/year of energy from renewable energy sources (RES) (+10% y/y), reduction of consumption and reduction of heat losses by 58,300 GJ/year (+374% y/y), reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 183,100 tonnes/year (+165% y/y), and reduction of dust emissions by 35.2 tonnes/year (+27% y/y).

The development of a specialised offer of financial products is reflected in the growing share of green assets in the bank's loan portfolio. At the end of 2021, it amounted to nearly 37%, and the goal is to increase it to 50% by 2023.

Reducing the impact on the natural environment

Every year, the bank calculates and objectively verifies the results of own operational activities. It takes steps to limit the organisation's negative impact on the natural environment. As a result, in 2021 the bank reduced its own emissions measured in CO₂eq by approximately 60% compared to 2020 (calculated according to the market-based method). Emissions could have been reduced thanks to the reduction of electricity and heat consumption of the buildings used by the bank, and the implementation of a remote work system.

At the same time, the bank is involved in initiatives that protect the natural environment. Last year, BOŚ became a member of the United Nations Global Compact and joined the Climate Positive programme. The bank also joined the Science Based Targets initiative, which is an international partnership between the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the World Resources Institute (WRI), and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which aims to promote activities aimed at climate protection, including the reduction of their carbon footprint.

The full ESG Report of Bank Ochrony Środowiska is available at: https://www.bosbank.pl/ESG/esg/strategia-i-raport-esg

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Author: Bogusław Mazur (Fundacja im. XBW Ignacego Krasickiego). The text was created based on the materials of Bank Ochrony Środowiska.

The text was created as part of a project co-financed by the European Union titled Future leaders of ESG in the business sector No. 2022-2-PL01-KA210-VET-000094045. The project is implemented by the Foundation for XBW by Ignacy Krasicki, in partnership with the Irish company EDU SMART TRANING CENTER LIMITED.