Credited for integrating environmental, climate and social advances into core business strategies, Carlos Hank González, chairman of Grupo Financiero Banorte, is featured in a special Forbes’ edition showcasing the “30 Most Sustainable Minds in Mexico.”
The financial magazine’s February Mexico edition called him an innovative leader, marked by Banorte’s sustainable investment fund and its social and environmental risk management system that evaluates possible impacts on the environment and communities before financing any project.
In an interview, the chairman said Banorte’s “entire institution [recognizes] the relevance of thinking and acting sustainably” and “properly applying the necessary actions to successfully achieve them.”
He told Forbes it is equally important to convey and share Banorte’s objectives with customers. Through this, he said, the efforts can be multiplied by many and provide benefits to all.
His inclusion in Forbes’ list with 29 other notable sustainability advocates comes about three months after participating in an International Chamber of Commerce virtual summit to rally business support for strong climate action.
The only representative from Mexico on the panel, he called on the international financial sector to take stronger measures against climate change, saying “uncompromising collaboration” is needed to drive sustainable business efforts, support new economic opportunities and protect the planet.
Forbes’ Mexico edition named Carlos Hank González one of the country’s “30 Most Sustainable Minds.”
An ESG champion, he has focused on strategies and operations to generate value for all stakeholders while ensuring efforts are environmentally forward.
In April 2021, Banorte became a founding signatory of the Net Zero Banking Alliance, convened by the United Nations’ Environment Program Finance Initiative.
Also last year, Banorte endorsed the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, an initiative to help financial services and other industries more closely assess nature-related risks and opportunities.
In 2019, Carlos Hank González represented Banorte as the only Mexican Bank in being founding signatory of the Principles for Responsible Banking presented at the UN headquarters.
In the Forbes interview, he acknowledged the challenges of transitioning to a zero-carbon economy but that he and Banorte have a “strong conviction” to achieve that and “to include the rest of our clients and lead them down that path.”