The environmental, social and governance (ESG) challenges affecting businesses and society in general are as numerous as they are diverse. La Banque Postale has carried out a double materiality assessment to identify, prioritise and act on these challenges.
A paradigm shift in sustainability reporting
Since 2024, the European CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) has imposed a new approach to non-financial reporting, based on the principle of double materiality. This concept, formalised by the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), requires companies to assess two complementary dimensions simultaneously: impact materiality (outside-in), i.e., the influence of the company's activities on the environment and society, and financial materiality (inside-out), i.e., the impact of sustainability matters on the organisation's economic performance.
La Banque Postale has positioned itself as a forerunner in this area, with its Mission Committee contributing to the double materiality assessment as early as 2023 as part of the Group’s early implementation of the CSRD. The assessment helps identify the priority material matters among the 1,178 data points defined by the ESRS and to structure sustainability reporting that can be certified by an independent third-party organisation. La Poste Groupe therefore defined 10 main sustainability matters based on the double materiality assessment, transforming a regulatory obligation into a strategic lever for creating value and anticipating climate and social risks.
ENVIRONMENT
La Banque Postale considers all environmental matters – climate, biodiversity, water, pollution and resources – to be material, thereby recognising its systemic impact as a financier of the real economy. We are committed to fully decarbonising our portfolios by 2040, offering “green loans” to local authorities to finance their energy transition, and continuing the pioneering Climat + Territoires programme, which has been supporting reforestation and sustainable agriculture since 2015. Supported by the Caisse des Dépôts group, La Banque Postale is taking part in the plan to invest €100 billion in France’s ecological transition by 2028.
SOCIAL
Our priority social concerns include the working conditions of our employees and partners, gender equality, and – our core differentiator – accessible banking and financial inclusion. We go above and beyond other commercial banks to work in the best interests of the community, and are constantly innovating to meet the challenges facing society. In particular, we have put in place a support system for women who are victims of domestic violence that includes an emergency bank account that can be opened in 24 hours, and we have reduced the period for survivors of certain cancers to have their illness forgotten.
GOVERNANCE
Ethics and transparency guide our actions in terms of business conduct (anti-corruption, data protection, ongoing stakeholder dialogue, etc.). As a mission-led company, we have a Mission Committee and non-financial performance indicators that are audited by an independent third-party organisation. As of 2025, almost 31% of the annual targets for all La Banque Postale employees are indexed to non-financial matters, with a target of 40% by 2030.
