KBC Groep

KBC Groep performs fairly well in areas such as governance, stewardship and climate-related disclosures. Governance-wise, it assigns decision-making and oversight responsibility for its sustainability strategy to the highest governance body and responsibility for implementing its sustainability strategy to specific functions, teams or committees. Additionally, it incentivizes staff by linking performance criteria for remuneration at the senior executive level to specific sustainability targets. In terms of stewardship, it has a stewardship policy that supports environmental transitions and social best practices in line with its sustainability strategy, which also covers client and other stakeholder engagement as well as advocacy and partnerships. It also transparently identifies the key sectors, clients and investees to engage with on climate issues. It also demonstrates good practices in its climate-related disclosures by monitoring not only its scope 1-2 emissions, but also emissions resulting from its associated financing activities (Scope 3 category 15), as well as other scope 3 categories, by category.

It also has a few other disclosures relating to its general operations, financing, the ILO core labour rights and lobbying. Not only does KBC Group discloses the taxes paid, it also discloses the number of employees, value of corporate loans and value of deposits by location. Financing-wise, it discloses the amount and/or share (in monetary terms) of its provision of products, services and capital linked to high-emitting sectors and fossil fuel sectors. With regards to the ILO core labour rights, it as a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect the ILO core labour rights and also has a publicly available policy statement expecting suppliers to respect the ILO core labour rights.In terms of lobbying, KBC Groep discloses a list of the trade associations of which it is a member and specifies that it does not make political contributions.

There is scope for KBC Groep to enhances its disclosures in various aspects, particularly in setting its impact materiality strategy, plans and targets, providing financing to low and lower-middle income countries and underrepresented groups and sectors, as well as its financing for high-emitting sectors and its just transition risk mitigation processes.

While KBC Groep identifies material sustainability impacts across its value chain, it could further detail its process and how objective criteria and/or supportable evidence were considered for identification and priortization of impacts. It is also recommended that the financial institution discloses that it conducts third-party assurance or verification of their target reporting. Financing-wise, it has an opportunity to disclose the breakdown of clients and/or beneficiaries by income group and its processes for avoiding divestment from low-income and lower-middle countries as unintended consequences of its sustainability strategies and targets. With regards to its financing of fossil fuels and high emitting sectors, it has an opportunity to disclose that it does not provide products, services or capital, neither to new fossil fuel projects nor to clients and investees undertaking such projects. As for just transition, KBC Groep could disclose a process for identifying the social risks associated with its provision of products, services and capital in relation to the net zero transition.

Additionally, KBC Groep could consider integrating risks associated with the ILO fundamental rights at work for those impacted by its provision of products, services and capital into its risk assessment processes and the process for mitigating such risks when identified.. It is also recommended for KBC Groep to provide an example of the specific conclusions reached and actions taken or to be taken on at least one of its salient human rights issues of it’s the products, services and capital it offers as a result of assessment processes in at least one of its activities in the last three years. Lastly, KBC Groep has an opportunity to disclose how it determines a living wage for the regions where it operates in.

This scorecard refers to information in English which was publicly available by July 15 2024. AuM and Total assets are stated in USD for comparability and have been calculated based on reported local currency values multiplied by applicable IMF currency converter values.