Green developments

"During my nearly 40-year career, I have witnessed many important developments up close. It is precisely this historical awareness that now helps me to be forward-looking in my work as a senior policy officer. The same applies to the theme of sustainability. I think the topic has been on DNB’s agenda for at least a decade, but it is only since the Paris Agreement in 2015 that we have realised we actually need to do something about climate-related and environmental risks. It is well known that DNB is committed to financial stability in the Netherlands, but thanks to our sustainability strategy, we can now also make strides in realising sustainability ambitions for the Dutch economy and the financial sector.

Sustainability at all levels

Our Sustainable Finance Office coordinates our sustainability strategy. We translate new insights around sustainability into policy, which we then integrate into our work. In doing so, we want to go green not only business-wise, but also as an organisation. For example, we are in the process of thoroughly renovating our Frederiksplein office building, which will take us from the lowest to the highest energy label, but there has also been a greater focus on employee behaviour. That is why the SFO launched the GroenDNB network in the autumn of 2021. I had been my division’s and department’s sustainability coordinator for some time, so I was immediately very excited about this new network. That’s why I decided to apply for a board position and became GroenDNB’s chair. 

An inclusive network

When we started as a board, we had to do quite a bit of figuring out how we wanted to go about it. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, it was difficult to organise fun physical events anyway. However, in the past one and half years we have already organised many activities. In all divisions we have found ambassadors who are willing to help us create support for our activities and goals. With their help, we try to inspire every DNB employee in a fun way to adopt more sustainable behaviour. At the same time, this is also our main challenge. While it is easy to motivate people who feel connected to the theme of sustainability, those with a neutral or more negative opinion are much harder to convince. This is one of the reasons we have no membership: this way, anyone can join our activities incidentally and with no strings attached. We welcome everyone!

Inspiring and motivating

Our actions and activities vary widely in type and scale. Last year, for instance, we hosted a speaker from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) who talked about climate change and the consequences for the Netherlands, and we organised a session with a representative of the Dutch Home Owners Association who gave tips on how to make your home more sustainable. Last summer we handed out suntan lotion samples from the sustainable brand Naïf, and provided tandem bikes for people to cycle to our summer party.

The aim of our actions is to present our network and inspire DNB employees in a fun, approachable way. Right now, for example, we are organising a “VeggieChallenge” with four activities, including a vegan snacks tasting. By offering DNB employees a tasty vegan snack for free in the company restaurant, they can experience for themselves that animal-free food can also be very tasty. We don't want to tell people what they are doing wrong, instead we want to show in a fun way how things can be done differently.”