How technologies may help banking institutions in ESG reporting?

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the ESG activities of Polish banking institutions with a particular focus on the indirect carbon emissions contained in their investment portfolios and then propose a solution to facilitate the calculation and reporting of indirect emissions. The conclusions from the analysis of the activities undertaken and the topic of the work formed the basis for the formulation of the research problem as worded: How can technologies help the banking sector report their indirect emissions? In the initial chapters, the thesis outlines the foundations of ESG, the need for continuous improvement of the ESG approach, and the importance of collecting emissions data directly from customers, to then focus on the ESG reporting in Polish banks, as it is a key element of any bank's strategy. This work shows that Polish banks have real problems to completely describe some indicators in their reports. Subsequently, this thesis proposes supplementing the investment loan application process with an ESG report and a questionnaire created for this thesis, which would facilitate the calculation and subsequent reporting of indirect emissions. For the writing of this work, professional literature has been used, mainly on the topic of ecology and banking. The practical part is covered by a relational database, a use case diagram, and a questionnaire (calculator prototype). It is worth noting that the proposed solution is only an incomplete solution and an actual implementation for banks would require significant technical, financial, and technological development.