Nordea publish Sustainability Report 2016

In the report we present the beginning of a new journey for Nordea towards enhanced compliance and a sharper focus on sustainability. The development of this new, proactive sustainability framework is in progress with the aim to consolidate and embed sustainability into our core operations, policies and processes.  This will help us generate value, address sustainability challenges ahead and increase business resilience and transparency across the group.

This new approach is a consequence of the increasing demands our stakeholders have placed on us as a sustainable financial institution. We listened and learned from our stakeholders in the form of over 170 stakeholder dialogues. These resulted in a detailed materiality analysis and with it, nine new sustainability goals that form the baseline from where Nordea can measure its sustainability progression in the future. 

"I'm delighted to present the new Sustainability Report which reflects the positive year we had and which clearly indicates the direction we’re heading. Backed by Group Executive Management and the Board of Directors, it confirms Nordea's commitment to integrating sustainability. This report is a great snapshot of where we are and where we’re heading, I am very proud and excited for the future" says Åse Bergstedt, Chief Sustainability Strategist and main responsible for report. 

In the report:

• The report this year is shorter and includes fewer but more material GRI indicators than previously to make a concise and material report

• We have clarified our governance for sustainability

• We have highlighted our increased engagement with stakeholders, focusing on explaining the extensive stakeholder dialogue and materiality analysis process which has led to clearer understanding of prioritised areas

• We present our nine new sustainability goals to be, at the very least, initiated during 2017

• We have not only reported key sustainability aspects on a Group level with updates on our People and Compliance work but we have now also drilled down to the business area level as well. This is to help increase understanding of the types of risks and opportunities our individual business areas face.

• We have reintegrated the GRI index into the report

This year's Sustainability Report has been produced in cooperation with the external sustainability consultancy Ethos International and follows the GRI G4 framework. It also ensures compliance with the new Swedish law on sustainability reporting, which came into effect on 1st December 2016. PwC have conducted a limited assurance of the report for the second year.