Sustainable Banking Commitment

Sterling Bank Plc is committed to ensuring that sustainability is at the core of our business activities and operations.

Sterling Bank’s Sustainable Banking Policy ensures that the Bank shall manage Environmental, Social, and Governance aspects related to our banking activities and operations, thus allowing us to balance ethical and economic issues. The Bank shall integrate sustainability within all levels of our business activities and operations. Our operations depend on natural resources, and the protection of these resources will guarantee welfare and support humanity’s existence. Therefore, the Bank shall avoid, mitigate, correct, manage, and compensate for our environmental and social impact.

Our core values of Customer Focus, Integrity, Teamwork, and Excellence (CITE) shall enhance our stance on sustainability, in line with the Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles (NSBPs).

We understand the importance of our workforce toward achieving sustainable goals. We shall continue to promote equality and an inclusive workforce because we believe in diversity and encourage innovation. Each of our employees contributes to Sterling Bank’s transformation and promotes our corporate culture.

We respect and guarantee workers’ rights and freedom of association and firmly condemn forced and child labour. The Bank does not accept discrimination based on gender, race, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, disability, age, or sexual orientation. Furthermore, Sterling Bank requires its clients to comply with international standards on the employment of minors. Sound management of workers’ and communities’ safety and health are essential for the business’s productivity and efficiency as is the respect for their livelihood.

The Bank’s practices can lead to sustainability risk. Whatever the Bank’s role may be, as a lender, investor, asset manager, service provider, purchaser, operator, or employer. Sustainability risk is a transversal risk of increasing importance. Failure to anticipate and manage this risk can have multiple consequences, including financial, legal, and reputational. The Bank’s sustainability risk management is aligned with the Bank’s moderate risk profile and risk appetite and supports the Bank’s mission to bring sustainable solutions to its clients. The professionalism and commitment of our employees as well as the support of the communities, authorities, suppliers, shareholders, and clients inspire us and ensure sustainable development.

We do not only believe in a sustainable future; we are building it.

ENVIRONMENTAL & SOCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT (ESRM) IN OUR BUSINESS ACTIVITIES

The Bank is committed to being a responsible lender and complying with the Nigerian Consumer Protection Council Act Decree No 66 of 1992, which mandates the provision of an appropriate and effective mechanism to protect the pecuniary, health, environmental, safety, and security interests of all legal persons against misleading, fraudulent and harmful business practices including manufacturing, trading, packaging, advertising, distribution, and selling of goods and services to the ultimate consumers. The Bank acknowledges its obligation to be transparent, act with integrity, enhance our customers’ financial knowledge, and support them to make better environmental-friendly business decisions.

The Bank shall proactively embed Sustainability in its business activities by ensuring that environmental, social, and governance risks are always considered within its lending process. This will ensure that the Bank avoids, minimizes, or mitigates and manages environmental and social risks in our business activities via lending. The Bank shall apply sector-specific guidelines that define the minimum standards expected of our clients before engaging with them.

Our objectives as regards ESRM include the following:

  • Ensure that financed projects comply with the Bank’s Sustainable Banking Policy and Guidelines.
  • Identify both risks and opportunities, with local as well as regional and global perspectives using internationally accepted principles and standards (IFC Performance Standards, Equator Principles, World Bank Group Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Guidelines, Etc.), and ensure that all relevant environmental and social impact are taken into account when making credit decisions.
  • Assess the potential environmental and social liabilities of the Bank and its customers. • Ensure that costs related to environmental and social (E&S) protection are estimated along with other expenses and liabilities.
  • Assess the commitment and capacity of our clients to manage identified potential E&S impacts.

The E&S risk assessment of transactions within our purview shall be appropriate to the nature and scale of the facility, and proportional to the level of risks and impacts. The review may be expanded to the related business activities, as deemed necessary by the Bank.

A proposed financial transaction can be rejected due to non-compliance with the Bank’s ESG Risk and Sustainable Banking Policy and Sustainability Guidelines, including E&S action plans and conditions.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT IN OUR BUSINESS OPERATIONS

We can contribute positively to halting global climate change by adequately managing the Bank’s operations and carbon footprint. We shall do this by appropriately managing our resources, selecting vendors/contractors, and streamlining our business operations through an environmental management program covering aspects such as energy efficiency, paper usage, waste management, greenhouse gas emissions, and water usage.

We understand that creating economic value depends on natural and human capital, and we are convinced that ensuring the sustainability of our value chain is the only way of protecting our shareholders’ investment and a sustainable way of creating profit. This will go a long way in ensuring sustainable business development and contributing immensely to the future viability of the planet.

The Bank shall update its practices periodically to incorporate relevant developments in social and environmental management. We shall continue to define specific sustainability objectives for departments within and oversee their implementation.

We shall promote environmental responsibility along our value chain by encouraging suppliers, subcontractors, and customers to adopt social and environmental management best practices. To guarantee a responsible value chain; we select, evaluate, and monitor our suppliersand contractors through equitable and competitive processes that set out sustainable criteria by strengthening our relationship and working jointly to build capacities that enable us to grow together and reduce associated risk and operational impact.
To ensure proper and effective management of our carbon footprint, we have updated our Carbon Footprint Policy manual detailed in the Carbon Footprint Policy section.

HUMAN RIGHTS

We shall respect human rights within our business operations and business activities. We are committed to respecting and upholding human rights by adopting internationally recognized standards and practices such as United Nations Declaration on Human Rights, the International Labour Organization’s principles, and other international treaties to which the country is a signatory, including ensuring compliance with local labour laws.

We shall uphold the rights of:

Our employees – the Bank shall provide reasonable working conditions and a safe, healthy, harassment and bullying-free work environment, which respects diversity and encourages individual development.

Business partners – the Bank shall uphold human rights principles with people we do business with and encourage them to abide by global human rights standards. This will, to a large extent, determine the people we do business with and influence how we do business with them.

Our communities – Implementation of the Bank’s Diversity & Equality Policy and providing support for projects that address social and environmental issues across communities.

FINANCIAL INCLUSION

We shall promote financial inclusion by providing access to the formal banking sector through our products and services primarily to hitherto unbanked people and communities.

We shall enable individuals and disadvantaged groups such as Youths and Women to improve their quality of life and enhance their financial literacy and security. By providing finance to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to facilitate economic growth and job creation.

We shall continue to invest in programs for people in our community who might be vulnerable or at risk of becoming excluded financially, supporting them to build money skills, resilience, and confidence for the future. We know that such positive outcomes for individuals result in further benefits for their families and the communities in which they live.

WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

We shall promote Women’s Economic Empowerment through equality in our workforce. Our female staff in senior management positions shall be encouraged to mentor others, thus accelerating the female workforce’s advancement and reducing the gender divide.

The Bank shall ensure products and services are designed to promote female-owned businesses. An example of such a product is the One-Woman initiative.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL GOVERNANCE

Our Board of Directors is responsible for making sure that our overall activities are adequately managed. The Board is committed to corporate governance best practices, compliance, and ethical behaviour.

The Bank shall integrate Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) considerations within its activities, operations, and overall governance structure.

We shall constantly assess and encourage the evaluation of E&S governance of our clients.

We shall also set and assess our Environmental and Social performance goals periodically.

The Bank is committed to business ethics, transparency, accountability, and fighting fraud and corruption in its business activities and operations.

CAPACITY BUILDING

We shall build the capacity of all staff in the area of environmental, social and governance risk management. This will provide knowledge and skills to sufficiently manage social and ecological risks associated with our business operations and activities and harness opportunities.

We shall also develop educational programmes to raise employee awareness of environmental, social, and governance issues and to promote responsible behaviour within our workforce and our customers

COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS

The Bank shall cultivate and promote partnerships with other institutions locally and globally and leverage the strength of collaboration to accelerate the attainment of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

We shall support industry initiatives on Sustainable Banking by regulators and guidelines of relevant local and international institutions.

We shall support partnerships with businesses targeted at sustainability practices and fostering a circular economy.

SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING

The Bank shall regularly report on its sustainability performance. We shall also ensure our Sustainable Banking initiatives are communicated to all internal stakeholders (staff) and external stakeholders (including regulators, shareholders, and customers).

Our sustainability report shall form a part of the Bank’s annual report and is to be presented to our shareholders and the public. We shall also endeavour to report on sustainability using international guidelines such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) index, the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and other reporting standards as directed by industry regulators.

The Bank shall publish its Environmental, Social, and Governance Risk policy statement and periodically report on the steps taken to advance the integration of social, governance, and environmental considerations into its operations and activities.

The Bank shall share information with customers as appropriate, to strengthen their capacity
to reduce potential social and environmental risks and promote sustainable development. Sterling Bank shall foster openness and dialogue relating to social and environmental matters with relevant audiences, including shareholders, employees, customers, government entities, and the public.

The Bank is committed to sharing its experiences and knowledge to extend best practices and lessons learned.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

We have integrated sustainability within our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes to complement our environmental and social risk and footprint management. We promote Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by providing our customers with safe and high-quality products and services that are environmentally and socially beneficial. This way, the Bank can play a broader role in the communities where we operate and offer beyond what we deliver through our core business activities.

Our CSR projects focus on investments in sustainable products and services, community projects, direct efforts of our employees through volunteering activities, and other initiatives that would ensure the sustainable development of the immediate communities in which our business operations are located.

To enable a more structured approach to our CSR activities, we shall maintain a CSR management system anchored by the Corporate Social Investment arm of the Bank and aligned with best practices.

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