Sustainability governance

Sustainability is well integrated in Handelsbanken’s working methods and governance.

Organisational structure for sustainability

How we work

At Handelsbanken, we feel it natural to integrate sustainable thinking in our decision making. A decentralised way of working, close to the customer. We also have a designated team working with co-ordinating the sustainability work in the Group's overall operations.

Policies and guidelines

Other than regulations and national laws, we also have policies and guidelines. The policies are revised by the board every year, and guidelines issued by the CEO supplement and clarify the policies. We also have policies and guidelines for Handelsbanken's subsidiaries.

Contact

If would like to get in touch with us regarding the Bank’s sustainability work, please contact us by e-mail. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

E-mail:
sustainability@handelsbanken.se

Sustainability reporting

Handelsbanken's Sustainability Report 2024 can be found in the Annual and Sustainability Report 2024 and has been prepared in accordance with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), with the exception that it is presented outside the Board of Directors' Report. The Bank's Executive Management is responsible for preparing the report.

The Sustainability Report contains both the statutory sustainability report and the bank's Taxonomy reporting. The aim is to strengthen the bank's sustainability work, improve transparency and ensure clear reporting to external stakeholders.

The reporting is compiled at Group level and covers all of Handelsbanken's operations, including the subsidiaries Handelsbanken Finans AB, Stadshypotek AB, Handelsbanken Fonder AB, Ecster AB and Handelsbanken Liv Försäkring AB. More information about the value chain can be found in the section Strategy, business model and value chain in the Annual and Sustainability Report 2024.

Risk management

Sustainability risk can arise in any of the Bank's roles and operations. It is important to anticipate and manage sustainability risk, for financial and legal reasons as well as for the Banks reputation. Our efforts for managing sustainability risk follow the Bank’s decentralised model and are in line with the Bank's low tolerance of risk. The Bank's business operations bear the responsibility for identifying sustainability risk and managing it. This is done within a framework of established processes for risk and management.

Suppliers

We have an ongoing dialogue with our suppliers. When making purchasing decisions we assess how the suppliers work and their policies regarding sustainability. We have also implemented a code of conduct for major suppliers that we expect them to follow. As a result we see a positive link between the code, our ongoing dialogues with our suppliers and their sustainability activities.

Handelsbanken Supplier Code of Conduct (pdf)

The goals we focus on

In our work towards a more sustainable future we have chosen to focus on six of the sustainable development goals.

The Sustainable Development Goals