WASHINGTON–A credit union that is one of the leaders nationally for its leadership in sustainability, responding to climate change and building stronger, more resilient communities shared details of its work with other credit unions here.
During a breakfast held in conjunction with CUNA’s GAC, United Nations FCU discussed the efforts it first undertook more than a decade ago and said its goal is to build a “holistic network of like-minded credit unions focused on reducing injustice and helping the climate.”
Its efforts, said Chief Lending officer Eric Darmanin, align with the 17 goals identified by its sponsor, the United Nations, as seen in the slide below.
“We entered into our this in 2008 with the green plan. Now, we have more comprehensive goals and a sustainability plan,” he said. “We are seeing operational efficiencies. It’s great to see level of employee engagement we have. It’s also been great for our brand. As employees of the United Nations, our members are very focused on solving the world’s problems and when they see what we are doing it helps them to connect with us as a financial institution. This is especially true with Gen Z.”
To help other credit unions achieve sustainability goals, Darmanin offered these tips:
Tip 1: The importance of gaining C-Suite buy-in. Darmanin urged every CU to have an executive sponsor or sponsors. “This is management 101. Support starts at the top. We had an EVP who was very passionate about sustainability.”
Tip 2: Work with a sustainability consultant. “We recognized if we wanted to do this well we needed to better understand it. There is a knowledge set and skill set you need to have a sustainability program. You want to be careful that it isn’t criticized as greenwashing. If you don’t have the resources to hire someone, assign someone to do the research.”
Tip 3: Undertake assessment as part of due diligence. “We had to find out where we were and what are the standards of sustainability. We looked to the EPA and to LEED and the United Nations. We were able to establish our targets, set metrics and goals.”
There is a tool available where a CU can do its own assessment at www.unglobalcompact.org.
Tip 4: Determine gaps in sustainability; align with industry standards/benchmarks. “We set some goals and have had some positive results. We have been climate-neutral since 2016. Of all our U.S. offices, 82% of our space in the U.S. is in LEED-certified buildings. We hold our vendors accountable as well. We do vendor sustainability reporting. We have reduced paper by 64%.”
Tip 5: Build a Coalition of passionate volunteer advocates and/or establish full-time sustainability positions. Darmanin said 70 UNFCU employees (10% of workforce) are actively involved in sustainability, making presentations, doing research and making sure the credit union meets its goals. “We also developed several business resource groups. This has given our employees the opportunity to be involved in common interest groups. We use them as resources; they are very motivated.”
Tip 6. Practice sustainability as a core value. Darmanin said UNFCU’s core values include providing the highest quality service, and operating with honesty and integrity.
Tip 7: Weave sustainability into the CU’s business decisions. Darmanin said UNFCU has done solar panel financing and other sustainable lending programs.
“We are trying to incent member behavior. We offer discounts on electric and hybrid vehicles and on energy efficiency loans. On the other side of the balance sheet we established a Sustainable Impact Certificate program. With funds in the sustainable share certificate we make sure dollars are allocated toward sustainable loans or invested in clean investments and clean bonds.”
Darmanin noted UNFCU publishes an Impact Report every year for its members and for the United Nations.
“This is about putting our money where our mouths. But you have to get the accounting right around what you can count and what you cannot,” he said. “If we feel it is the right thing and will drive member behavior, we will do it but not necessarily report it.”
Tip 9: Collaborate with peers. This is the reason UNFCU created its “United in Sustainability” initiative.
Tip 10: Join the movement. To that end, Darmanin urged credit unions visit its site here.
It’s Called Fresh for a Reason. And We Offer Home Delivery. For Free!
The biggest, best and freshest news reporting in credit unions remains free in ’23! Each morning CUToday.info delivers its daily Fresh Today news update offering the latest headlines and breaking news right to your email, with the easy-to-read headlines format allowing you to click on the stories that interest you most in order to learn more.
If you haven’t yet signed up for the new email solution on which CUToday.info has partnered with ResponseGenius, you can do so here. Signing up requires less than one minute of your time—and it’s free!
Please note that after signing up you may need to go to your Spam/Junk folder and mark the morning headlines email as safe. CUToday.info does not provide its list of readers and emails to outside parties, and we will not be contacting you to sell you an extended warranty or sending you any links so you may cash in on an inheritance you didn’t know was coming.
And did we mention it’s free?
Please note and/or make your IT department or email administrator aware the emails will be coming from the domains CUTodayinfo.com and CUTodayinfoReply.com