Bank for a Sustainable Future

For a responsible company, sustainability is not only a moral imperative, but also a business imperative. By integrating ESG considerations into our strategic business activities, we strive to make our everyday actions benefit our environment. As one of the largest financiers of domestic companies and the general public, we believe it is important to contribute to our clients’ own sustainability goals. We believe that companies should not only generate profits, but also take responsibility for a sustainable environment and society.
dr. Zsolt Barna, Chairman-CEO

Company Name:

MBH Bank Nyrt.

Implementation Year:

From 2023

Focus Areas:

Climate Protection and Adaptatition, Water usage, Biodiversity

Program Objective:

MBH Bank, identifying the main challenge of our time, environmental and operational sustainability, is committed to be a key player in the creation of sustainable economic operations in the domestic financial markets. To this end, in December 2023, it established a complex ESG programme called Bank for a Sustainable Future, which spans several years.

MBH Bank has made three key commitments under the programme:

preserving biodiversity,
achieving decarbonisation, and
achieving green lending targets.

In order to achieve its decarbonisation ambitions, the Bank is joining international organisations such as the Net Zero Banking Alliance and has committed to be the first Hungarian-owned bank to join the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) in 2024, which will validate its emissions reductions on an international, scientific basis.

Program Measures and Commitments:

On 4 December 2023, at the Climate Summit event, the Bank announced the “Bank for a Sustainable Future”, a comprehensive sustainability and environmental framework programme spanning several years, with three key commitments:

have set themselves the goal of preserving biodiversity,
protect our natural habitats and species through green finance solutions and programmes, and
support Hungary’s climate goals and decarbonisation efforts.

To deliver on their first commitment, they are working with the Ministry of Agriculture to implement biodiversity support programmes in 10 national parks in Hungary. The explicit aim of the cooperation agreement is to support national projects with national organisations.

Conservation efforts related to pranticole, one of the most endangered shorebird species in the Carpathian Basin, will be expanded through the implementation of a tagging survey with the involvement of the Nature Conservation Watch of the Hortobágy National Park Directorate.
In another joint initiative with the national parks, solar-pumped water recharge based on renewable energy will be implemented in the Danube-Tisza river basin to restore disappearing wetlands that are drying up due to climate change and sinking groundwater levels.
A further conservation objective is the reconstruction of the Pannonian saltmarsh wetlands with intermittent water cover in the saltmarsh and the maintenance of their associated protected species, including the red-bellied pochard and several species of shorebirds.
In addition, wildcat conservation projects are also important. The planned studies and the expected results can provide the basis and support for the development and implementation of practical conservation strategies for the species on a comprehensive, larger scale and at local level.

Along their passive products, they help market players who are doing a lot to preserve biodiversity, through active products, credit investments and investments that increase energy efficiency. They aim to increase the stock of green credits by 4 percentage points by 2024.

Program Impact and Results:

Under the MBH Forest project, launched in 2023, nearly 30,000 trees have already been planted, and this number will increase further in 2024 to restore damaged forests in the areas of the Ipe River Forest.
The Bank will support Hungarian beekeepers with nearly one million forints per month after the sustainable card spending.
In 2023, the Bank supported the installation of 200 blood broods in the context of the green flat-rate service, of which 128 broods were flown out, and the installation of broods continued this year.

The Bank supported the national parks with HUF 34 million, and also contributed to the investments of Ipoly Forest Ltd. and Pilis Park Forest.

Keywords:

Biodiversity, forestation, decarbonisation, national park, renewable energy, green finance solutions