Sustainability approach

At ING, our sustainability approach spans:
1. Climate
2. Nature
3. Social agendas

We recognise the interdependencies of these areas and how they affect each other, both positively and negatively. Each of these is a complex and dynamic issue, so our response needs to be dynamic as well. As scientific understanding is continually advancing, our approach will also keep evolving. Therefore, our climate action has evolved to encompass both mitigation and a growing emphasis on adaptation and resilience. Increasingly, we are also exploring how we can play a role in halting and reversing nature degradation and regenerating natural systems, while respecting human rights and working to advance financial health and inclusion for customers and communities.

We’re working to embed this holistic view of sustainability into our business processes and customer interactions, aiming to better future-proof our business strategy. This both strengthens our own resilience as a bank in the long-term and, also, supports us in being a trusted partner to our clients, helping them to navigate the complex risks and opportunities they face. As part of this, we manage the most relevant environmental and social risks.

It starts at home. That’s why we also want our own operations - our buildings, data centres and how we use transport – to be in line with the low-carbon economy of the future. And we want to ensure that our employees are treated well, and that neither we nor our suppliers infringe on human rights. We also strive to empower employees to contribute to sustainability at ING, with employee engagement and upskilling a key enabler of our approach.

Climate action: central to our approach

Responding to the challenges of climate change has been central to our sustainability approach for the past decade. Climate action is where we, as a bank, believe we can currently make the most sustainability impact. From contributing to the goals of the Paris Agreement, to establishing Terra as our decarbonisation framework for the most carbon-intensive sectors that we finance – right up to the present day, in early 2025 becoming the first global systemically important bank to receive 1.5°C-aligned science-based targets validation from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

At the same time, society is transitioning to a low-carbon economy. So are our clients, and so is ING. We finance a lot of sustainable activities, but we still finance more that’s not sustainable – see our progress on our climate action page.

Partnering with others to help drive action

We partner with our clients and customers to support them in driving down their emissions and building up future-proof business models. We also want to play a part in bringing together the stakeholders needed to put systems change into motion. We’re active in almost all sectors of the economy and our customers range from very large corporations to private individuals. Having this overview helps us take the market’s pulse, conscious of the needs, roles and capabilities of various stakeholders.

We recognise that none of these challenges can be tackled in isolation. To make progress on our ambition requires collaboration and collective action. That is why we are eager to share what we learn, while continuing to learn from others. We contribute to the design of financing frameworks and the setting of voluntary standards, and we engage with regulators and policy makers on topics related to the energy transition and which clarify and support the role of banks. It’s how we strive to contribute to the systems-level change that is needed. That is how we can all move faster to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.

We firmly believe that with the way we manage our business and work with clients and customers, we contribute to tackling climate change, driving systems change and securing a sustainable future.