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A “sustainable” future

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Ask ten organisations to define sustainability and you are likely to get ten very different answers. To some, it means “meeting the needs of people today without compromising the needs of tomorrow”. To others, it is all about “competition and long-term profit”. But what does it mean to the EBRD? To find out, you need look no further than the EBRD’s first Sustainability Report. 

For the EBRD, sustainability is central to everything we do. The Bank was founded to help countries “move from the unsustainable system of planned economies to market economies and democracies that are durable and self-sustaining”. More specifically, our commitment to sustainability means applying sound banking principles to all of our operations and taking account of environmental, social and governance issues in every investment decision.

Accepting that actions today have far-reaching consequences for tomorrow is just one part of the equation. Nowhere is this clearer than in the issue of climate change, a special focus of the 2004 Report. Through the prism of the EBRD’s energy efficiency activities, the Report looks at how the Bank is contributing to worldwide efforts to tackle this issue.

Another special focus of the 2004 Report is the EBRD’s initiative to help the poorest countries where we operate – the seven “early transition countries”.  By using examples of how the EBRD is helping to make a real difference to people’s lives in these countries, the Report highlights the support programmes and donor support that buttress this initiative.

The bulk of the Report is devoted to how the Bank invests responsibly, from checking the integrity of potential clients to conducting environmental and social monitoring. The Report also outlines our procedures for promoting transparency and accountability and for ensuring the sound management of our internal operations.

The Report follows on from the Bank’s 2003 Environmental Report and will be produced annually. Printed copies are available from pubsdesk@ebrd.com.

27 July 2005