Addressing wider sustainability issues
Sustainability risks in the provision of services
We need to consider environmental, social and ethical (ESE) risks in our business decisions and activities, particularly in higher-risk industry sectors. To help us evaluate and, where necessary, mitigate ESE risks associated with lending and client take-on decisions, we have adopted a number of standards.
- We have been a signatory of the Equator Principles (EPs) since its inception in 2003. Find out more about our 2009 Project Finance deals.
- In 2009 we launched an updated Defence Sector Statement.
Other systems and policies we have in place to address these issues include:
- Stakeholder engagement and opinion research
- Country risk classification processes
- Anti-money laundering procedures
- Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) guidelines
- Regulatory risk monitoring
- Consumer policy monitoring
- Developing ESE risk policies
Find out more about our approach to managing some general areas of social and environmental risk.
Business and human rights
RBS is committed to respecting and upholding human rights in all areas of our operations and within our sphere of influence, as expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Global Compact.
The revised RBS Defence Sector Position Statement incorporates the UN Convention on Cluster Munitions which requires signatory states to ban the production, use and stockpiling of cluster munitions.
Find out more about our approach and our position statement on human rights on the Our Policies and External Commitments page.
Responsible sourcing
The large size of our organisation means that we have a significant impact through our supply chain, and a responsibility to monitor the companies that we choose to do business with. For this purpose, we were one of the first financial services organisations to publish a set of minimum expected ethical standards for suppliers, back in 2004. We are also working on a specific project to raise the environmental requirements we ask of suppliers.
Find out more about our Ethical Code for Suppliers on the Our Policies and External Commitments page
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Read our submission to the UK Parliament Environmental Audit Committee (PDF 51KB)
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FAQs
- Who should I call if we have a general enquiry?
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We want to put you in touch with the right person to help you, so please have a look at the various sections on the Contact Us page.
- What is the registered address of the RBS Group head office?
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The registered address is The Royal Bank of Scotland plc, Registered in Scotland No 90312. Registered Office: 36 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, EH2 2YB.