Activities in the ESG area: environment, society and governance

The Bank Millennium Group continues its involvement in the financing of energy-efficient investment projects. In compliance with the adopted environmental policy, the Group does not finance new coal mines or coal-fired power generation projects, except for new projects aimed at reducing the levels of pollution. Exposures to coal mining projects or industries directly related to mining are negligible today. 

Environmental activities cover the entire product portfolio in the Bank Millennium Group. We take active measures to reduce the use of paper in communication with our clients. The reduction of paper consumption is also supported by the development of Mobile Authorization. An example of a product supporting environmental goals is the WWF Millennium Mastercard credit card (APR 14.77%) offered as part of the Bank’s long-term cooperation with the WWF Poland Foundation. The card is made with recycled plastic. Millennium Leasing, in turn, already since 2019 is particularly active in developing the MilleSun program dedicated to financing PV investments. These and other pro-environmental measures are described in the ESG Report.  

In line with its strategy for 2022-24, the Bank Millennium Group will actively support clients in their decarbonisation efforts and will provide PLN 2 billion in financing over the next three years to the Bank’s and the Bank Group’s clients for sustainable and transformational projects.

In the new strategy, the Bank has for the first time defined its goals pertaining to climate protection. The Bank is well positioned and plans to reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions by 50% in 2022 compared to 2020. The achievement of climate neutrality in terms of the Bank’s own emissions is planned by 2027 and the achievement of full climate neutrality is planned – by 2050. 

In 2021, the Bank took numerous measures to reduce consumption of energy, water, and other materials, and introduced more environmentally friendly solutions in its premises. The Bank attaches great importance to reviewing and reducing the level of emissions from the properties that we occupy for the conduct of our business. In 2022, all electricity purchased by the Bank will be covered by certificates of origin from renewable energy sources. The Bank is introducing environmentally friendly solutions in its head offices. In Q4 2021, employees of the Bank’s head office in Wrocław moved to a new location built in accordance with stringent environmental standards. In 2021, an exemplary, environmentally friendly branch of Bank Millennium was opened in Gdańsk. 

Bank Millennium’s goal is to offer banking without barriers. The Bank’s purpose is to dismantle digital and physical obstacles to financial and non-financial services. Bank Millennium is not only a financial services centre for clients. It is also the first access channel for other services, e.g. in the mobile application clients can buy tickets for urban transport, pay for parking or buy car insurance simply by scanning the code in their registration document. Remote contact with Polish government offices is also possible through internet banking. The Bank has introduced numerous amenities to assist people with impaired vision, hearing and movement. An increasing number of services are being digitized, and the Bank helps its clients learn about online banking solutions and start using this form of banking. Bank Millennium extends the barrier-free community concept also in the non-banking sphere. In 2021, for the third consecutive year, during the 18th edition of the Millennium Docs Against Gravity festival, selected films were available with audio description and voice-over, making it easier for people with visual impairments to access the world of culture. 

Since 2016, the Bank Millennium Foundation has been running its own financial education program for kindergarten children, called the “Financial ABCs.” In 2020 and 2021, despite the pandemic, the Foundation continued to execute the project remotely by creating a series of modern online educational materials for children and their parents. In November and December 2021, as part of the seventh edition of the program, the Foundation conducted 200 workshops in 54 kindergartens. Over 5,000 pre-schoolers aged 3 to 6 participated in these workshops. Classes were in compliance with the safety rules required during the pandemic. 

Bank Millennium creates a friendly work environment for all staff regardless of their gender, age, race, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, disability, political beliefs, trade union membership or sexual orientation, so that everyone may thrive in conditions conducive to professional development in an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual respect. It offers programs for working parents, opportunities to take part in charitable activities, employee volunteerism. 

As early as in April 2020, the Bank established a fund in the amount of one million zloty to finance the treatment and rehabilitation of its employees in connection with COVID-19; the funds are provided on an ongoing basis, upon requests from employees. 

The Bank attaches great significance to the involvement of its staff in social campaigns. In 2021, the Bank refreshed the formula of this type of activity. The employee volunteerism program #słuchaMYwspieraMY (#WeAreListeningWeAreSupporting) is a competition for grants provided to volunteerism projects to be carried out by the Bank’s employees for the benefit of specific individuals, organizations and local communities in need of such support. In 2021, grants were awarded to 21 project leaders. 139 volunteers along with their family members and friends took part in these activities. Support was granted to 2,638 beneficiaries – children taken care of by social welfare institutions, people with disabilities, pre-schoolers, junior and high school students, including those attending integration and special classes, and senior citizens. 

For more than 30 years, cultural involvement has been an important part of Bank Millennium’s social activities. The Bank supports cultural undertakings with a national and local range alike. 

Bank Millennium has been a long-term sponsor of the Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival, which informs viewers of many phenomena transpiring in the contemporary world and educates them through the films shown and the events accompanying the Festival. In 2021 the festival was highly focused on the theme of climate change. 

In 2021, Bank Millennium was awarded for its involvement in the promotion of culture – with the Culture Atlas title for the 6th time by the Kraków Festival Office for its sponsorship of the Sacrum Profanum festival.