ING retains top spot on sustainability ranking

This assessment of ING’s sustainability performance was also based on information in its Corporate Responsibility Report – ‘ING in Society 2010’, which was released earlier this year. An overall improvement in ING’s total score as compared to last year contributed to ING retaining its number 1 position.

Inspiration for global peers

"ING is a strong example of how an organisation can incorporate sustainability in its operations and activities,” said Diederik Timmer, Managing Director Europe Sustainalytics. “ING’s leadership demonstrates that sustainable business practices result in high performance and risk mitigation in the medium and long term. While some improvements can still be made in its environmental management systems, ING should be an inspiration for all its global peers."

Mitigating harm

ING’s sustainability agenda spans from commitments to global initiatives, industry dialogues and corporate alliances like the UN Global Compact and the Equator Principles (responsible lending policies) to specific policy statements that restrict investing in certain companies. Focal to ING’s sustainability strategy is to mitigate harm that could affect organisation-wide business activities and to contribute to positive change via services and products offered.

Continuous stakeholder dialogue

Arnaud Cohen Stuart, head of the Business Ethics team at ING’s Sustainability department responds to the assessment results: “It is crucial for us to see how the results of our sustainability policies and practices are assessed by external professionals. Feedback from rating agencies like Sustainalytics helps us improve the effectiveness of our policies and allows us to engage in continuing dialogue with our stakeholders, both internal as well as external.”