BNG podcast ‘Added Value at the Table: Searching for the added value of the financial sector’

As a company, you want to make a profit, but you also want to become more sustainable. Can you do both at the same time? And is the need for sustainability sufficiently felt in the financial sector? In this special episode of the BNG podcast Added Value at the Table: In search of the added value of the financial sector, presenter Maarten Bouwhuis discusses this topic. He does so with former BNG CEO Gita Salden, Karen Maas, scientific director of the Impact Centre Erasmus and professor of Accounting and Sustainability at the Open University, and regulator and former Member of the European Parliament Corien Wortmann.

Maarten Bouwhuis praat met voormalig BNG-CEO Gita Salden, Karen Maas, wetenschappelijk directeur van het Impact Centre Erasmus en bijzonder hoogleraar Accounting en duurzaamheid aan de Open Universiteit, en toezichthouder en oud-Europarlementariër Corien Wortmann.

After six years, Salden left BNG to join the board of De Nederlandsche Bank. But that does not mean that her ambition to make a difference in the financial sector has disappeared. The question is how that difference can be made. For example, do climate lawsuits encourage companies to become more sustainable more quickly, or do they have the opposite effect? According to Salden and Maas, they can certainly give a push in the right direction, but Wortmann also sees that they make companies more cautious.

‘The harsh reality is that we are not on track and that we are collectively doing too little,’ concludes Salden. And that is evident, because in some cases, making a profit and pursuing a green policy are still at odds with each other. According to Maas, that does not have to be the case, because ‘by achieving social returns, you ultimately also achieve financial returns.’

Curious about what really adds value to the financial sector? Listen to the entire episode of the BNG podcast ‘Meerwaarde aan Tafel’ (Added Value at the Table): In search of the added value of the financial sector.

Want to know more about the added value of BNG? Subscribe to the BNG YouTube channel.

More impact stories

See all articles

BNG Bank podcast Meerwaarde aan Tafel - Presentatie Woongeluk voor iedereen.jpg

Impact Story

BNG podcast ‘Added Value at the Table’: Housing happiness for everyone

15 May 2024

How can you ensure that everyone has access to affordable housing at a time when the housing market is firmly locked? Presenter Maarten Bouwhuis joins Jeroen Tebbens, relationship manager at BNG, and Zacharias Ben Moussa, treasurer at housing association Portaal, to find the answer to that question.

BNG Bank podcast Meerwaarde aan Tafel - Presentatie Gemeenten naderen ravijnjaar.jpg

Impact Story

BNG podcast Added Value at the Table - Municipalities approach a year of reckoning

15 May 2024

A new swimming pool, refurbished community centre or asmooth cycle path: these are all things that most people take for granted. But for local authorities, it is important that there is enough money available to carry out these projects. That is precisely where the problem lies, because Dutch local authorities are approaching the dreaded year of reckoning in 2026. From then on, the central government will be providing less money to the municipalities, which means that choices will have to be made about where the money will ultimately go.

BNG Bank podcast Meerwaarde aan Tafel - Presentatie Een zak geld voor de zorg.jpg

Impact Story

BNG podcast ‘Added Value at the Table’: A bag of money for healthcare

15 May 2024

Financing specialist mental healthcare is a major challenge for many mental healthcare institutions and banks. It is expected that more than half of mental healthcare institutions will not be able to turn a profit this year. At the same time, the demand for specialist mental healthcare is greater than ever. So how do you ensure that everyone who needs care can receive it with that one budget? And is that even possible? Presenter Maarten Bouwhuis asks Arron Bell, director of GGZ-Friesland, and Selma Huizer, senior relationship manager for healthcare at BNG.