ABN AMRO has won the Award for Circular Economy Investor at ‘The Circulars 2018’, the world’s leading circular award program, which recognizes companies, public organizations and NGOs that contribute to a circular economy. CEO Kees van Dijkhuizen accepted this prestigious award today at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The Circulars is an initiative of the World Economic Forum and the Forum of Young Global Leaders, run in collaboration with Accenture strategy.
“It is an honour to accept this award on behalf of ABN AMRO. This recognition means a tremendous amount to all of us at the bank, as we want to have an active role in supporting the transition to a circular economy. But even more importantly, it is an endorsement of the positive impact the financial community can make in empowering the change makers driving circularity,” said Kees van Dijkhuizen, CEO of ABN AMRO, when accepting the award.
Circularity as the new norm
The Dutch government wants to get the Dutch economy running fully on sustainable resources by 2050. If the Netherlands is to live up to this ambition, consumers as well as thousands of small and large companies will have to make the switch to a new business model. ABN AMRO believes that there’s no time to waste to get started. The bank wants to be an action leader in the transition to the circular economy and aims to empower pioneering individuals and companies that want to make circularity the new ‘norm’.
“We strongly believe in making meaningful impact. For companies who are adopting a circular business model, ABN AMRO provides support and new financing models. By 2020, it is our goal to finance circular business assets of one billion euros through at least 100 circular financing deals in all sectors. The total emission reduction is to be at least one million tonnes of CO2”, emphasizes Van Dijkhuizen.
“We are proud to have been awarded with an Investor Award and will continue our efforts in this area”.ABN AMRO has been awarded with an Investor Award as a result of its clear ambition to facilitate the transition to a circular economy.
ABN AMRO was selected as the Winner by a high profile selection of judges from the circular economy and the finance industry. The judges identified ABN AMRO’s holistic and detailed circular economy strategy and leadership, as well as their clear focus on financing of new business models and innovative technologies, as some key differentiators in selecting them as a Winner of the category
