TSKB Environmental and Social Impact Management Policy
A. PURPOSE
The purpose of this policy is to set forth fundamental principles pertaining to the assessment and management of the environmental and social impacts that may result from the activities of Türkiye Sınai Kalkınma Bankası AŞ (TSKB).
B. SCOPE
The policy covers all TSKB employees and operations at the Head Office and Branches.
C. PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES
TSKB Environmental and Social Impact Policy includes the following main principles and practices.
The Bank:
1. closely follows up the national legislation and the applicable international standards governing environmental and social matters, and fulfills the requirements as part of its loan processes accordingly. Accordingly, during these loan processes,
• not only the national legislation governing environmental and social impact assessment, but also globally-accepted environmental and social impact assessment standards/approaches in the finance sector are considered as part of loan assessment and monitoring activities, independent from the amount of investment and/or credit limit;
• the process related to determining the actions to be taken for the management of environmental and social impacts related to all financed investment and working capital loans shall be conducted in line with the national legislation and globally-accepted standards;
• the impact of the company and investment on biodiversity is analyzed within the scope of all investment and working capital loans provided to be financed, and if deemed necessary, the companies are requested to take measures for the preservation of biodiversity and such measures are constantly monitored during the term of the loan;
• in investment loan projects, potential environmental and social risks and impacts are assessed in national and international terms, and all projects are subjected to "TSKB Environmental and Social Risk Assessment Model (ERET) for Investment Loans". A (high), B+ (medium-high), B- (medium) or C (low-risk) categories are assigned to each project subjected to ERET model application. Investor firms are required to take measures to prevent or reduce such effects and, when necessary, to create "Environmental and Social Management Plans" in line with the specified risk categories, and to implement the determined actions in all stages of the projects. Said "Environmental and Social Management Plans" and all applicable monitoring applications shall be included in the loan agreement as a condition of the loan agreement to be signed with the company. Within this context, the projects financed shall be closely followed up at regular intervals;
• in all financed working capital loan projects, the customers' environmental and social risks and impacts are measured using the "TSKB Environmental and Social Risk Assessment Model for Working Capital Loans", and their environmental and social performance are regularly followed up;
• loan file is not approved in the event that there is very high, unmanageable and irreversible environmental and social negative impact as determined by the project- and customer-oriented environmental and social risk assessments performed for investment and working capital loans;
• TSKB is committed, without subjecting projects to any environmental and social impact study and irrespective of the size of the loan, not to provide financing for any activity that is prohibited and/or restricted by Turkish laws and regulations or by any international agreement to which Turkey is a party, or for any activity that is included in the “List of activities that are not to be financed” (see Annex 1) which has been issued in the light of the Bank’s working principles and which has been approved by the TSKB Board of Directors;
• Assessment and monitoring findings are shared with the senior management and internally every year;
2. follows-up the direct and indirect environmental and social impacts in line with the "TSKB Sustainability Management System" established as per the ISO14001 Environmental Management System and ISO14064 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Calculation and Reporting Standard, takes measures to prevent and/or, if not possible, mitigate such impact, and sets targets to that end. All actions are taken for ensuring energy and water efficiency of the Bank's buildings to that end, and necessary investments are made. Energy, waste and water consumption are followed-up, and targets are set for reducing of the amount of energy and water consumed. Wastes are segregated according to their class (domestic waste, hazardous waste, e-waste, recyclable plastics, paper, glass), and domestic wastes are sent via the municipality's waste collection vehicles and the other wastes are sent to licensed companies as provided in the Turkish environmental legislation. Performance results are annually revised, are submitted to the Sustainability Management Committee afterwards, and are then shared with all stakeholders through relevant reports;
3. pays special care to ensuring that all consumables and fixtures procured are of an environmental-friendly and/or recyclable nature in a manner to help preservation of natural resources. Attention is paid to making sure that the producers and vendors of these materials have taken all environmental protection measures, and are equipped with resource efficiency practices, as well as ISO 14001-14064 certificates, etc.;
4. provides the customers and the relevant stakeholders with information on sustainability including mainly information on climate change and preservation of biodiversity, and provides them with support and encouragement for establishing sustainability policies and procedures;
5. follows-up all complaints, suggestions and questions to be received by the Bank directly or indirectly from internal and external stakeholders in relation to its environmental and social impact through the complaint resolution mechanism it has established, and responds to, and regularly reports to the senior management, these complaints, suggestions and questions;
6. provides financing support for investments that serve renewable energy, energy and resource efficiency, enhancing adaptation to climate change, reducing environmental pollution, preservation of biodiversity and circular economy, which are of critical importance for our country's sustainable development.
D. EFFECTIVE DATE
This policy goes into effect as of the date on which it is approved by the Board of Directors.
List Of Activities That Are Not To Be Financed - Annex-1 click here to access
