Since our launch in 1980, we have demonstrated that a bank can have a positive impact for people and the planet and also be profitable and successful.
For more than 40 years we have shown that sustainable growth can be achieved by using money as a force for good.
This holistic approach to finance means making investment choices is not always straightforward. For example, if an intensive factory farm is looking for finance to install solar panels, would we invest? The short answer is no, because we don’t finance farms on which large numbers of livestock are raised indoors in conditions intended to maximize production at minimal cost.
The longer answer is that to help decide whether an investment fits with our mission, we are guided by our ‘Minimum Standards’. Our Minimum Standards are a strict set of exclusion criteria for the products, processes, and activities that we do and do not want to invest in. These fall into three categories: planet awareness, human dignity, and governance.
Triodos Bank supported employment agency, ELITE, with their work to help people with disabilities in Wales access employment.
In 2023, Triodos Bank provided a landmark £20.55m loan to Oxygen Conservation to scale its conservation activity in Scotland. Credit: Joshua Craddock.
Lending from Triodos Bank helped Darbar Arts Culture and Heritage Trust to buy a new office in West London which will allow it to grow and celebrate Indian classical music with more people.
Triodos Bank has been supporting leading marine conservation engineering company, Fishtek Marine, for the past six years in its mission to reduce the impacts of fishing on wildlife.
In 2023, Triodos Bank partnered with Creative UK in the launch of a new £35 million fund to drive UK growth and innovation through the power of the creative sector. Credit: Wake The Tiger.
A £2.8m loan from Triodos Bank supported the creation of new cafés at four RSPB reserves across the UK. Credit: Ben Andrew.
Our Minimum Standards: Planet Awareness
We believe climate change must be halted to minimise its impact on the planet and its ecosystems. So, we finance renewable energy and community energy projects. We don’t finance fossil fuels.
As well as our commitment to halting climate change we are committed to protecting biodiversity, which we believe is the foundation of life on earth and in which all species have a role to play.
As such, we only finance or invest in companies that, for example, demonstrate awareness of deforestation as an issue, with sustainable forestry practices and responsible sourcing and use of forest products.
We exclude companies that do not respect the human rights of local and indigenous communities on the fair and equal use of forests.
The flip side to this is our active support for organic food and farming, which is based on natural ecosystems, sustains biodiversity and takes care for both human health and animal welfare.
Our Minimum Standards: Human Dignity
In the past, upholding respect for human rights was mainly viewed as a government responsibility but nowadays companies share a clear responsibility for this.
In this spirit, Triodos Bank does not finance weapons, arms and munitions. We do not invest in the tobacco industry.
Triodos Bank excludes companies that, for example, provide surveillance infrastructure that repressive regimes may use to systemically violate the human, political and democratic rights of their people. But, through Triodos Investment Management, we support microfinance institutions located in countries prone to conflicts or with weak governance as long as they are taking action to prevent human rights abuses and to uphold human rights.
Our Minimum Standards: Governance Awareness
In addition to considering what an organisation does, we also consider how it is run. A guiding principle of ours is that we only finance companies that uphold good corporate governance practices.
Good governance standards support transparency (including tax transparency), distribution of power, independency of supervision, fair remuneration principles and a focus on long-term value creation.
We believe a business should take into account the interests of all their stakeholders. This means not only working for shareholders, but also considering impacts on employees, customers, suppliers, auditors and impacted communities.
We think every customer of every bank should be able to easily find out where their money is going and have the opportunity to ensure it only supports organisations that align with their values.
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