The Banks And Sustainable Development

The Banks And Sustainable Development

Violeta , Madzova

This paper focuses on the role of the banks in supporting sustainable development. Its objective is to examine recent trends in banking and sustainable development, as well as to assess the implementation and application of the sustainable development policies adopted by the banks in the banking sector in Republic of Macedonia. For that purpose it is made a comprehensive analysis on the trends of “sustainable finance”, as well as research on the practices in the Macedonian banking sector in supporting sustainable society. Namely, at the beginning of the 21st century, the banks in the industrial world have become complex financial organizations that offer a wide variety of services to international markets and control billions of dollars in cash and assets. Supported by the latest technology, banks are working to identify new business niches, to develop customized services, to implement innovative strategies and to capture new market opportunities. By means of their financing policy, banks can then take specific measures to contribute to sustainable entrepreneurship. As the analysis indicates, with few exceptions bank policies in the West Balkans are lagging significantly behind relevant international standards and best practices. Until recently, most Macedonian banks did not consider environmental and social concerns to be particularly relevant to their operations. Today, however, the integration of sustainability into the banking sector of Macedonia has taken two key directions: Support the environmental and social responsibility through financial contribution in environmental initiatives and socially responsible initiatives Integration of environmental and other sustainable development criteria into lending and investment strategy of the banks Therefore, the paper reviews the environmental and social policies of the selected big and medium sized banks in Macedonia, as well as policy and the practices if the specialized promotion bank-Macedonian Bank for Development Promotion.

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2012-05-31

1283