Sustainable finance practices: a study of the six largest Brazilian banks

• Grant number: 15/22023-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2016
• End date: February 28, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Production Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Ivete Delai
• Grantee: Leticia da Silva Inácio
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Companies, as key actors in society, have been pressured to change their way of doing business, integrating and considering the economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainability in their routines, in order to reduce their negative impacts on such aspects. In this new reality, the financial sector has a critical role in inducing actions, mainly the ones of its customers. It can encourage good social and environmental practices through: the use of evaluation criteria that consider aspects related to sustainability in their processes of granting loans and credit lines; in the creation of specific lines for financing green products or clean technologies; or via employees' awareness and training campaigns. Despite this relevance, sustainability practices in the Brazilian banking context are still a subject little studied in the literature. In this context, this project aims to identify sustainable finance practices of the six largest Brazilian banks. Thus, it contributes to building an overview of the integration of sustainability in this industry, as well as the different approaches employed by the studied banks.