Recently Costa Rica’s Banco Nacional hit a note of excellence in terms of its environmental management. The bank achieved this by creating sustainable consumption habits, fostering the formation of committees and by developing good environmental practices. Its efforts also contributed to decrease spending by more than ₡ 474 million for the 2017-2018 period. It also contributed to the more rational use of energy resources, thus supporting Costa Rica’s national goals in terms of adaptation and mitigation of the effects of climate change.
According to an audit conducted this year by the Directorate of Environmental Quality Management (Digeca) of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, Banco Nacional got 103.30 in the Environmental Management Program, a rating considered “of excellence”.
This program was created to publicly point out the level of performance and compliance of public sector institutions in the development and implementation of their environmental programs. Institutions that get a score higher than 92 are considered to have an excellent grade, while those that have grades below 20 get a poor result.
Gustavo Vargas, Banco Nacional’s general manager estates “For the Bank this issue is fundamental and it is part of our daily work, one of our institutional objectives being to grow sustainably and in compliance with the provisions of the law”.
The program also evaluates the support and commitment of the highest levels of the institution to take on this issue. So is the introduction of sustainable criteria in public procurement processes and on the training and support given by the entity to its suppliers of sustainable purchases.
