17 September 2013 | Zagreb, Croatia

A meeting with the Croatian banking sector was organized with the support of the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) and facilitated by the Croatian Banking Association (HUB) to exchange knowledge on current initiatives, gaps and challenges related to sustainability in banking in Croatia. Around 20 representatives from communication and public relations, investment, corporate, commercial, retail, risk management, and compliance departments of development and commercial banks participated in the meeting. They shared their institutions’ understanding of and approaches to environmental and social risk analysis, experience in developing and offering green products and services on the Croatian market, and their perceptions of the environment and business climate in Croatia in general. The discussion also focused on the current barriers to the integration of sustainability in the practice of the Croatian banking sector. Participants agreed on the benefit to increasingly share existing sustainability practices amongst each other, and improve dialogue with stakeholders from other sectors, in order to better understand the sustainability issues and general climate in Croatia, and move forward the concept of sustainable development at country level.