A review of how Handelsbanken’s sustainability initiatives contribute to more sustainable business practices

Abstract

Climate change has been an important topic for many years and the banking sector may at first glance not be considered to be affected by sustainability issues to a large extent, but financial institutions have a big impact on how well society can face sustainability issues. Banks play a crucial role in the transition to greener businesses. Money rules and the powerful actors are those who possess it. Thereby, this review tries to bring an understanding of how the Swedish financial institution, Handelsbanken, contributes to more sustainable business practices by engaging in sustainability activities. By employing a qualitative research methodology that combines theoretical gathering and data collection through interviews, the purpose of this review is to bring an academic understanding of how a financial institution can contribute to more sustainable business practices. This review examines the work of Handelsbanken towards their business clients. When analyzing the results, it could be found that Handelsbanken’s work contributes to greener business clients by offering more sustainable solutions. It also shows that the definition of sustainability is a core value of Handelsbanken and it has been within their business model since the beginning. Sustainability initiatives are thereby nothing new for Handelsbanken, but there are however some challenges with their sustainability work. The greatest challenge is the involvement of small and medium-sized enterprises, primarily due to financial and time restrictions. However, the results and analysis implies that the sustainability work of Handelsbanken shows good opportunities for further development of the sustainable solutions; indicating for a greener future for all parties included.