Citibank Taiwan Ltd (花旗台灣) is committed to practicing corporate social responsibility by deepening its environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) initiatives, and working toward the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals — in the pursuit of sustainable corporate growth.
Citibank Taiwan’s 2020 ESG Report, released yesterday, targets Corporate Governance 3.0 by systematically addressing the aspects of sustainability delineated in the Global Reporting Initiative’s sustainability reporting standards, and by taking responsibility for Citi’s impact on its customers, employees, the financial industry and the community.
Excellence Magazine presented Citibank Taiwan with this year’s Best Corporate Social Responsibility Award in recognition of its efforts over the past five years to practice sustainable values, showing its commitment to ESG principles and its alignment with international initiatives on sustainability.
Photo courtesy of Citibank Taiwan Ltd
“The effects of climate change are something that nobody can afford to ignore, and extreme weather events have been No. 1 on the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report for the past five years,” Citibank Taiwan chairman Paulus Mok (莫兆鴻) said.
To combat the climate crisis, Citi Group last year announced its 2025 Sustainable Progress Strategy, which aims to help companies accelerate their transition to a low-carbon economy through US$250 billion in financing. It also joined the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials to promote climate solutions worldwide by leveraging its financial influence and targeting net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Citi Group’s 2050 target prompted Citibank Taiwan to extend its climate action to the younger generation by joining hands with nonprofit organizations to launch the Citi Taiwan Youth Climate Action program.
As part of the initiative, Citibank organized a climate negotiation simulation workshop. The workshop invited Citi Group’s chief sustainability officer, as well as key speakers from Taiwan and overseas, to speak about ESG and climate trends, and to encourage young people to engage with climate change issues.
At the same time, Citi is channeling capital into Taiwan’s “5 plus 2” innovative industries, such as green technology and the circular economy, fostering new drivers for the nation’s economic transformation. By the end of last year, the bank had loaned NT$58.8 billion (US$2.12 billion), the most of any foreign bank.
In terms of governance, Citibank Taiwan has set up a task force comprised of senior executives to lead groups in developing ESG products and services, establishing ESG communication, integrating the company’s operational policies with its service and product development strategies, and coordinating the bank’s medium and long-term ESG development goals with plans for sustainable growth.
To fulfill its social responsibilities amid fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, Citibank Taiwan initiated timely crisis management and put in place stringent disease prevention measures, as well as taking the lead in providing vaccination leave, leave for pandemic care and employee pandemic subsidies.
Citibank Taiwan also introduced relief measures to help customers tide themselves over during the pandemic, taking the lead in extending credit card-related services to improve customers’ lives.
The pandemic accelerated digital innovation at Citibank Taiwan.
In its consumer banking business, the Citi mobile app is continually upgraded and optimized, fully integrating customers’ credit card and banking information to provide them with a more convenient digital experience.
In its corporate banking business, Citibank Taiwan has also built a popular digital platform for e-commerce, continued to expand its digital banking infrastructure and helped its corporate customers accelerate their digital transformation through end-to-end digital financial services.
Citibank Taiwan promotes the “Youth Empowerment Sustainability Project” to ease the youth unemployment crisis triggered by the pandemic. The project links young people with local resources to promote all-round youth empowerment in Taiwan. By integrating youth banking with empowerment, young people become one of the solutions to population aging in Taiwan.
Looking ahead, Citi will continue to integrate its core competencies and apply innovative approaches to promote sustainable growth and achieve the vision of an inclusive society.
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