Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri) has become an official signatory to the UN principles for responsible banking, which is a single framework for a sustainable banking industry developed through a partnership between banks worldwide and the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative.
The principles are the leading framework for ensuring that banks' strategy and practice align with the vision society has set out for its future in the UN sustainable development goals and the Paris climate agreement.
Joining almost 300 banks worldwide in signing the document, Krungsri commits to being ambitious in its sustainability strategies, working to mainstream and embed sustainability into business, while allowing the principles to be sustained at the cutting edge of the bank's social and sustainable finance facility.
"Krungsri is proud to become an official signatory to the UN principles for responsible banking. The signing of these principles marks a key milestone in our ESG finance leadership journey, while reaffirming Krungsri's commitment to the 'banking with purpose' tenet as well as our spirit and the responsibility of a domestic systemically important bank," said Seiichiro Akita, president and chief executive of Bank of Ayudhya.
"We will continue to assume an active role in the Thai banking industry through a sustainable growth path encompassing ESG dimensions for both the bank's own actions and supporting clients in their brown-to-green transitions, a mandate that resonates with our sustainability vision of 'To Be the Most Sustainable Commercial Bank in Thailand'," Mr Akita said.
Under the principles, signatory banks measure the environmental and social impact resulting from their business activities, set and implement targets where they have the most significant impact, and regularly report publicly on their progress.
The principles provide a framework for banks to systematically understand the risks and seize the opportunities arising from the transition to more sustainable economies.
This aligns with Krungsri's belief that banks, indispensable to the economy, have a shared responsibility to support the country's smooth transition towards achieving the UN sustainable development goals and a low-carbon economy.
Underpinning Krungsri's tenet on banking with purpose, the bank declared the Krungsri carbon neutrality vision in 2021, under which Krungsri's race to a net zero action plan was introduced in 2022.
Achievements demonstrating Krungsri's firm commitment of doing better business for society include the issuance of gender bonds, the certification of green office and greenhouse gas reduction targets and the provision of ESG financial products and services to support customers (such as the issuance and underwriting of green bonds, sustainability bonds, sustainability-linked bonds and sustainability-linked loans).
Krungsri is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, one of the world's largest financial groups, that is also committed to the same vision of carbon neutrality.
