The aim of the elaboration is to indicate and analyse the case of strict implementation of environmental rules in commercial banking business. The considerations are based on the case of two unique ecological banks in Poland and Germany and a survey of public opinion concerning the evaluation of this process from the public point of view.
The idea of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), already widely implemented in business contains significant ecological components, also in financial business. Nowadays, many leading banks, investment funds, pension funds, insurance companies and even stock listed companies, use environmental aspects in their business. Moreover, in Poland and Germany unique ecological commercial banks specializing in financing environmental protection in the economy have already been established. To the first group of financial institutions supporting ecological CSR belong Deutsche Bank, UBS, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, BNP Paribas, SEB, Raiffesien Bank, and ING, to mention a few. To the second specialized group belong Bank Ochrony Srodowiska (BOS – Poland) and UmweltBank (Germany). It is possible to indicate a lot of success of the both unique banks. However, the strict implementation of environmental rules in banking business is not only inspiring, but also questionable.
Undoubtedly, the ecological challenge in banking sector is an important subject of scientific research.
Data / Methods
The financial and market positions of the both unique ecological banks could be analysed with the use of financial analysis and comparison method which are adequate for those purposes.
The third additional method was questionnaire method used in a survey on public opinion concerning the public assessment of proecological activities of financial business. The survey was created, ordered and supervised by the Author and conducted by the MillwardBrown SMG/KRC institute. Some relations between given answers were verified with the use of statistical methods (PASW Statistics).
Results
The achieved results are very promising, however it is possible to indicate some problematic aspects.
The conclusions could be useful for creating responsible, sustainable and modern economy.