Commitments that support our work

Collaborative initiatives and voluntary commitments are crucial to solving sustainability issues, as the financial sector must come together to drive change on a global and local scale. Nordea aims to work together with all societal actors, including legislators, governments, companies, NGOs and other financial institutions. The rapidly developing area of sustainability comes with challenges related to evaluation, comparability and credibility. We need to keep working towards harmonisation in order to effectively drive change.

As one of the leading banks in the Nordics, Nordea is committed to doing its part. We were one of the first Nordic banks to sign the Principals for Responsible Investments (PRI) in January 2007. Since then, we have continued to drive the sustainability agenda in the Nordics, and in an international context. Nordea is a proud co-founder of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB), the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance and the Net-Zero Asset Managers Initiative. Nordea is also the Nordic representative in the UNEP FI Banking Board and our CEO is a member of the high-level forum UNEP FI Leadership Council.

 

Our commitments

Nordea has signed and participates in a number of voluntary commitments. We do this as we recognize the importance of participating in and supporting international commitments that enable businesses to operate more sustainably. In addition to the commitments below, in its operations and business, Nordea follows the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ILO conventions and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. 

UN Global Compact

UNGC was initiated by the UN to encourage businesses to align their strategies and operations with ten universal principles building on UN conventions in the fields of human rights, labour standards, environment and anti-corruption. Nordea became a signatory to the UN Global Compact in 2002, first through Nordea Bank Finland. From December 2004 the coverage was extended to the whole Group. 

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Principles for Responsible banking

The Principles for Responsible Banking have been designed by a core group of 30 founding banks, of which Nordea is one, together with the UN Environment Programme’s Finance Initiative. The principles create a better and easier way for banks and financial institutions to align with society’s goals. This, in turn, helps the industry to demonstrate how it can be a change-maker to count on in society. 
 

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UN Principles for Responsible Investments

As one of the first major banks in the Nordic countries, Nordea Asset Management signed PRI in 2007. The PRI is the world's leading proponent of responsible investment. It works to understand the investment implications of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and to support its international network of investor signatories in incorporating these factors into their investment and ownership decisions.

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The Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF)

Nordea joined PCAF in 2020, a global partnership of financial institutions launched in 2015 to develop a harmonised approach to measure and disclose GHG emissions associated with loans and investments. A harmonised accounting approach provides financial institutions with guidance in developing risk management and regulatory compliance as well as a starting point required to align their portfolio with the Paris Agreement.

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Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance

Nordea Life & Pensions has joined the UN-convened initiative Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, committing to transitioning the investment portfolio to net-zero emissions by 2050. The alliance till develop models and frameworks to use as industry standards for measuring alignment with the target of keeping global warming under maximum 1.5°C increase.

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Net-Zero Banking Alliance

To accelerate the transition of the global economy towards net-zero emissions by 2050, Nordea became a member of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) in 2021. The United Nations convened alliance represents over a quarter of all bank assets around the whole world (USD 46 trillion).

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Net-Zero Asset Manager Initiative

The initiative was launched in Decem­ber 2020 and Nordea Asset Management was among the first to join, committing to support the goal of net zero emissions by 2050, in line with the global efforts to limit warming to 1.5ºC through our investments.

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The Poseidon Principles

A framework for integrating climate considerations into lending decisions to promote international shipping’s decarbonisation. Nordea, together with 11 other leading banks, jointly representing approximately USD 100bn in shipping finance, have come together to commit to the Poseidon Principles.

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Investor Alliance for Human Rights

Together with 207 other global investors, Nordea is putting pressure on companies to act responsibly on human rights. Nordea has been a partner of the Benchmark since January 2016. 

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Finance for Biodiversity Pledge

The Finance for Biodiversity Pledge is a commitment of financial institutions to protect and restore biodiversity through their finance activities and investments. The Pledge consists of 5 steps financial institutions promise to take.

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Applying the Equator Principles

Nordea adopted the Equator Principles (EP) in 2007. Our analysts and other relevant staff have been trained in Nordea’s internal EP process. Nordea follows the Equator Principles Manual (toolkit). The toolkit provides guidance on how to apply the EP in the day-to-day business.
 

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UN-convened nature-related working group

Nordea has joined a new UN-convened biodiversity and nature-related target-setting working group. The new working group is part of the United Nations Environment Finance Initiative and is formed to help banks understand how they impact nature and can reverse losses. The working group consist of 34 signatories of the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB).

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The Responsible Ship Recycling Standards

RSRS voluntary principles for financial institutions active in ship financing. The RSRS aim to promote responsible ship recycling and to minimise the dangers associated with hazardous materials on board. The standards form guiding principles in the dialogue about responsible ship recycling between the financial sector and the stakeholders in the shipping industry. Download Nordea Responsible Ship Recycling Standards (pdf, 49 KB) 

Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures

Both Nordea Bank Abp and Nordea Asset Management supports TCFD. The recommendations provide a foundation for climate-related financial disclosures for all companies, aiming at encouraging companies to report on the climate-related risks and opportunities that are most relevant to their business activities.  

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Other initiatives we support

Carbon Disclosure Project

Nordea is a signatory to the CDP, a project that aims to collect and share information on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change strategies. The CDP is a cooperation arrangement between 655 institutional investors with a combined asset holding of USD 78 trillion. We use the database information in our ESG analysis. We are also represented on the CDP Water Advisory Council.  

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Climate Action 100+

Nordea Asset Management has joined Climate Action 100+, a collaborative five-year global initiative led by investors to engage with the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters to improve governance on climate change, curb emissions and strengthen climate-related financial disclosures. 

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The Corporate Human Rights Benchmark

The first ever ranking of the world’s largest publicly listed companies on their human rights performance. The Corporate Human Rights Benchmark ranks the top 200 globally listed companies on their human rights policy, process and performance, harnessing the competitive nature of the markets to drive better human rights performance. Between 2016 and 2020, Nordea was a funding and steering committee member of the CHRB. The benchmark has now been integrat­ed with the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA), but the work continues.

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Institutional Investor Group on Climate Change

IIGCC provides investors with a collaborative platform to encourage public policies, investment practices, and corporate behaviour that address long-term risks and opportunities associated with climate change.

 

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UN Environmental Programme Finance Initiative

Nordea signed the UNEP FI in 1994. It is a partnership between United Nations Environmental Programme and the global financial sector created in the wake of the 1992 Earth Summit with a mission to promote sustainable finance. More than 200 financial institutions, including banks, insurers, and investors, work with UNEP FI to understand today’s environmental, social and governance challenges, why they matter to finance, and how to actively participate in addressing them. Nordea has been part of the UNEP FI Banking Committee since 2017.

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The World Benchmarking Alliance

Nordea is an ally to the WBA which seeks to generate a movement around increasing the private sector’s impact towards a sustainable future for all. The WBA brings together a broad, balanced group of stakeholders with SDG 17 (Partnership for the Goals) at its core. Allies represent a large mix of voices aligned with the universality of the SDGs. These span everything from civil society and business networks to financial institutions and multilateral organisations.

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The Investors Policy Dialogue on Deforestation initiative

Nordea is a founding and advisory committee mem­ber of the IPDD initiative, which was formally established in July 2020. The initiative was developed in response to the increasing rates of deforestation in Brazil as well as other countries. The objective of the IPDD initiative is to ensure long-term financial sustainability of investments by promot­ing sustainable land use and forest management and respect for human rights.

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The Access to Medicine Index

The index analyses the top 20 research-based pharmaceutical companies on how they make medicines, vaccines and diagnostics more accessible in low- and middle-income countries. It highlights best and innovative practices; and areas where progress has been made and where action is still required.

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The Montreal Carbon Pledge

Nordea signed the Montreal Pledge in 2014 as one of the first signatories. By signing this pledge, we commit to measuring and publicly disclosing the carbon footprint of our investment portfolios on an annual basis.

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The Antimicrobial Resistance Benchmark

The AMR Benchmark tracks how pharmaceutical companies are responding to the increase in drug resistance. Nordea is a member of the Expert Committee.

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