Our Commitment to Sustainability & Social Good
Leading By Example
We understand Clarien’s powerful role in helping Bermuda and our clients navigate the transition to a lower carbon-based and more sustainable economy. The Bank is well placed to connect the providers of capital with users, helping to address the key challenge of accessing finance to achieve sustainable goals.
We are dedicated to creating access for environmental finance solutions such as lending for: clean energy, water, transport, low carbon technologies and social infrastructure. We will also continue to develop and support local charities which aim to improve the environment and the Bermudian community.
Clarien incorporates environmental and social risk (E&S) considerations into our financial activities and help our staff to continually identify and communicate these risks.
Understanding clients E&S performance is an important element of how we assess and manage risk. We know the consequences of failing to appropriately manage E&S issues can directly impact:
- • Our client’s activities
- • Our neighboring communities
- • The environment
- • Our reputation
- • The long term economic viability of Bermuda.
Improving from the Inside Out
Clarien’s commitment to improving the environment starts at our workplace and our approach to more sustainable operations. We understand the impact our operations have on the environment, and we are taking measurable action to reduce these impacts through our own efficiency, with new technologies and by influencing our supply chain.
In addition, our employees have a key role to play in reducing our environmental impact. We empower team members to make a difference through active community programmes such as Earth Day community events, post-storm sapling donations and our community LED light bulb exchange.
Long-Term Strategy
Our investment approach reinforces the concept that long-term value creation and sustainability are inextricably linked. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) best practices are part of Clarien’s daily workflow and are captured in our Environmental Social Risk Policy.
As part of our general assessment, environmental and social impacts and risks are reviewed for each investment. Our review process is based on international environmental and social standards, such as the Sustainability Standards of the International Finance Corporation. If we detect gaps between those standards and the performance of an investment, we develop adequate corrective measures, which we detail in an Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP). The ESAP provides details on the gaps, the necessary actions, the responsible parties and a timeline for the implementation of each action. We work closely with our clients as a respectful and supporting business partner.
Meeting Global Standards
Clarien is proud to adhere to the International Finance Corporation (IFC’s) policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability, which describes IFC’s commitments, roles, and responsibilities related to environmental and social sustainability. The IFC Performance Standards are directed towards clients (such as Clarien), providing guidance on how to identify risks and impacts, and are designed to help avoid, mitigate, and manage risks and impacts as a way of doing business in a sustainable way, including stakeholder engagement and disclosure obligations of the client in relation to project-level activities.