Sustainable development goals

This goal is about inclusive and sustainable economic growth. Banks play a key part here because of their intermediary role in the global economy. The goal involves increasing work opportunities, especially for young people, and protecting people’s labour rights, for example.

In terms of sustainable economic growth, we have a hard stance against certain activities that we will never finance, like fur production and controversial arms industries. Then there are clients and projects that we finance only after certain environmental and social standards are met. Read more about our environmental and social risk approach. We’re also guided in our business operations and engagements with clients, customers and suppliers by established norms and best practice standards such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards, where applicable. Read more about our approach to human rights.

Besides mitigating harm, we also seek ways to make positive contributions to SDG 8. We pursue sustainable innovation through technology and new business models. Our Responsible Finance portfolio contributes to our approach to climate action and financial health.

We believe financially healthy people contribute to a healthy economy and help drive social progress. We aim to make an impact on improving financial health in three ways: through financial inclusion; by helping people manage their everyday finances; and helping them plan for the future. We align our efforts in this regard with the United Nations and a group of other banks to help set the standard for financial health impact for our industry. In December 2021 we became one of the founding signatories of the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Banking’s Commitment to Financial Health and Inclusion. Read more about our approach to financial health.

We also use our expertise to create a positive impact in our communities. Our community investment approach supports programmes that contribute to an inclusive economy, aiming to empower three million people to gain better access to the economy by 2025.

This goal is about ensuring that no one is left behind in the chance for a better life. As ING, we believe that we can make an impact by helping to improve the financial health of our customers and the people in the communities we operate in. We aim to drive social progress by striving to create equal opportunities and making sure our products, services and facilities are accessible in a way that best fits different customer needs and abilities.

We regularly determine the specific financial health challenges in our local markets and aim to address these in each country. Our community investment approach supports local programmes that contribute to an inclusive economy. We support projects in three areas: future-proof employment, financial capabilities and social enterprises.

In our financial health ambition, we take vulnerabilities and consumer protection into account. In that sense there is a clear link with human rights. We believe that every person everywhere has the right to be treated with dignity and have their interests considered equally. Our environmental and social risk framework (ESR) includes an overarching policy on human rights to guide us when assessing the clients and transactions we finance.

Goal 12 is about preventing the degradation of environmental resources. It includes policies that improve resource efficiency, reduce waste and make sustainability practices mainstream.

ING is committed to better understanding the impact of our lending activities and to work with clients to drive sustainable progress.
We aim to drive responsible consumption and production through our sustainable lending activities. We work with companies whose activities consider people, society and the environment, and we also work with our clients to finance and facilitate their transition to low-carbon technologies. See our ESR policy and our sustainability section.

Climate change is threatening our planet. The world needs to transition to a low-carbon economy and the financial sector has an important role to play in this. At ING we take that role seriously and want to be a banking leader in driving that transition.

Our integrated approach to climate action covers three priorities:

Read more about our approach to climate action.