Sustainability

Halkbank Sustainability 30 Companies Equity (TL) Fund, which offers the opportunity to invest in companies with high sustainability performance, mainly included in the BIST Sustainability Index, was offered to the public through Ziraat Portfolio.

 At least 80% of the fund's total value is continuously invested in stocks included in the exchange-traded fund shares established to track the Halkbank Sustainability 30 Index. 

Companies to be invested within the scope of the fund are selected among publicly traded companies that show high performance in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria such as global warming, depletion of natural resources, decrease in water resources, health, security and employment. The companies in question must meet the minimum BIST Sustainability Index and sustainability score requirements.

A body that reports to the Bank's Board of Directors with the goal of coordinating the bank's sustainability efforts.

Duties and Authorizations of the Sustainability Committee:

Follow-up and implementation of the “Sustainability Policy” defined by the Board of Directors,

Coordination of the bank's sustainability efforts, and running an assessment of the economic, environmental, and social effects of its activities,

Determining how to mitigate possible adverse effects of the bank's activities on sustainability and creating work groups with the relavant departments,

Establishing the bank's energy management procedures and principles. Analyzing the results of data on energy management. Providing recommendations regarding measures that need to be taken by contacting relevant departments of the bank. Providing reports and/or statements to public disclosure platforms as required,

Building the infrastructure that is suitable for the bank in legal/illegal situations. As a public bank traded on Borsa Istanbul, carrying out the necessary works and coordinating internal regulations within the bank so as to be listed and to remain in the BIST Sustainability Index, which covers the highest performing companies,

Providing opinions and recommendations to the Board of Directors with regard to the bank'a acitivities and shortcomings on sustainability.

Click here to check Sustainability Committe Members

Halkbank is aware of climate change and its effects. With this awareness and conscious of carrying out its activities responsibly, being a pioneer in tackling climate change is one of the purposes of the Bank. Mitigating the environmental impacts of its activities is an ultimate goal; therefore, Halkbank develops new projects through latest technological improvements as part of the Sustainable Management System.

Since 2013, Halkbank has been measuring carbon footprint and developing mitigation strategies. The ISO 14001: 2015 Environmental Management System and the ISO 50001: 2011 Energy Management System, which are integrated in the last quarter of 2016 into the Bank’s structure and work processes to minimize environmental impacts, reduce energy consumption and set up a standard structure. In this regard, environment and energy procedures are developed for internal audit, target and implementation. Besides, recent external audit proved that Bank is qualified for certification.

Halkbank develops innovative solutions to enhance efficiency and minimize losses in order to reduce energy and natural resource consumption arising from its operations. Halkbank Datacenter building has earned the title of being the first LEED green building certified Datacenter in Turkey.

Halkbank is the first Turkish bank which established ISO 50001 Energy Management System and this system is integrated to ISO 14001 Environmental Management System.

ISO 50001:2018 Energy Management System Certification please click

ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management System Certification please click

Having continued to apply corporate governance principles to all its activities and decision making mechanisms, Halkbank is listed in the Borsa Istanbul Sustainability Index; where corporate sustainability performance is assessed as high level.

FTSE, an independent organization jointly owned by London Stock Exchange and Financial Times, measures companies’ environmental, social and governance performance by FTSE4Good. Halkbank achieved a significant success in 2017 by listed in “FTSE4Good Emerging Index”. FTSE4Good is recognized as one of the important indices for investors who want to make responsible investments. Companies are included in the index after being assessed in sustainable financing, environmental, social and governance performance, climate change mitigation, human and employee rights, etc.

Supporting financial services with environmental and social projects, Halkbank continues its operations considering the Sustainability, Environment and Energy Policies.

Low Carbon Hero Award

In the ceremony organized by Sustainable Production and Consumption Association (SPCA) at the 4th Istanbul Carbon Summit organized by the Istanbul Technical University and hosted by the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), Halkbank received the 2017 Low Carbon Hero Award with its project named “Let’s Spare Energy for the Future”.

Creating sustainable value with an inclusive and participatory approach, Halkbank acts in line with the principle of responsible and sustainable banking that shows sensitivity to people, society and the environment.

A forestation study was carried out in order to increase the forest resources in Turkiye, to leave a more livable world for future generations and to reduce the impact of our emissions on nature in line with our 2050 net zero emission targets.

With the study carried out, 10,000 trees were planted in the forest area no: 177 in Çanakçı neighborhood, Süleymanpaşa district of Tekirdağ province and the Halkbank Memorial Forest was established.