KBC Bank in Belgium established a joint venture with the Czech platform Green0meter, which is supported by the company Digital & Legal. The KBC Group will acquire a 50% stake in Digital & Legal, possibly acquiring the remaining stakes later.
The Green0meter platform focuses on sustainability services and provides businesses with the calculation of their carbon footprint and ESG activities. During their frequent contact with business customers, representatives of KBC and ČSOB in the Czech Republic noted their growing interest in a more sustainable business model. This interest is caused by the current market situation, the company’s approach to sustainability, and legal regulations that place sustainability increasingly important. As a leader in the field of ESG, the ČSOB Group wants to enable its business customers from the Czech Republic to better and more effectively meet the changing expectations in society and the changing EU requirements in the field of ESG.
“The partnership between KBC and the Green0meter platform will ensure that ČSOB’s business customers will have fully individualized and professional sustainability advice tailored to their specific business processes and needs, combined with suitable financing options. This will ensure a smooth transition to a more sustainable business model, which will therefore develop organically within the business itself. KBC, ČSOB, and the Green0meter platform will act as a catalyst and intermediaries for the transition to more sustainable business processes. For our customers, this consultancy will be part of the business`s online banking, which from the point of view of end users ensures the maximum added value of this service,” – comments Aleš Blažek, CEO at ČSOB; “I am proud that the Green0meter platform and ČSOB are also connected by a common history because Green0meter is one of the startups that successfully graduated from the Start it @ČSOB program for budding entrepreneurs. The Green0meter platform from Digital & Legal is an asset within the KBC and ČSOB offering in the field of ESG,” – he adds.
“Mitigation of climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing our society today. Soon, small and large businesses will have to adapt and reduce their environmental footprint. It is clear that in both the Czech Republic and Belgium we still have to make a big effort to achieve the ambitious European goals in the area of reducing carbon emissions. Cooperation with the Green0meter platform from Digital & Legal means that we can help our customers reduce their impact on the climate. This is completely in line with our philosophy of engagement. In cooperation with our customers, we want to take the necessary steps toward a more sustainable society. We will try to help them achieve this goal by supporting them as a Bank, insurance company, and asset manager in their transition to a greener economy. After all, this is part of our business strategy,” – adds Filip Ferrante, General Manager of Corporate Sustainability at KBC Bank.
“Green0meter’s vision is to help as many businesses as possible with their sustainable transition with the help of data and artificial intelligence. We look forward to working with the entire KBC Group to help accelerate this transition through a Czech platform that is user-friendly and fully automated and will help businesses use sustainability. Thanks to this collaboration, we will be able to offer new tools and services that will help businesses more effectively monitor and manage their sustainable goals and reduce their environmental footprint. We are looking forward to this cooperation and how it will benefit businesses across Europe,” – concludes Karel Kotoun, Co-founder of the Green0meter platform.
More sustainable development requires not only a change in attitudes within society but also changes in core business processes to find, shape, and finance opportunities and identify the impacts of this transition. Businesses often want to work on their transition to greater sustainability, but don’t always know where to start.
KBC and ČSOB are happy to share their experience and offer business customers the tools they need to find out what impact a more sustainable business model can have and what new opportunities and requirements it brings. Green0meter provides customers with a suitable tool that can help them in their transition to ESG and will be part of ČSOB’s business online banking.
In addition, KBC and ČSOB intend to use Green0meter as an over-the-top banking digital ESG advisory solution for all businesses integrated with other digital channels and with the potential to introduce this platform in other KBC Group home markets.
Source: the Bank`s press release dated June 29, 2023
