Applying Capitals Coalition’s Natural Capital Protocol on Banking Activities

ANSA Merchant Bank (AMBL) in Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, and ANSA Bank (ABL) in Trinidad are part of the regional ANSA McAL Group. As part of the companies’ natural capital ambitions, the banks conducted a scoping exercise using the Natural Capital Protocol. This protocol is a global framework developed by the Capitals Coalition to support organisations in the identification, measurement and valuation of their impacts and dependencies on natural capital. On the back of this exercise, AMBL and ABL published a “Natural Capital Report” in 2023, developing their lending and investment strategy in relation to natural capital. -The scoping exercise revealed that construction, energy, mining, and agriculture sectors posed the highest risk to the banks’ portfolio, largely due to these sectors' reliance on and impact on natural capital. -Following the analysis, AMBL and ABL planned to run a full natural capital materiality assessment as well as identify the most suitable options for the group to manage natural capital-related risks associated with its credit and investment services. The group also planned to use this data to identify new business opportunities for its banks while advancing its Natural Capital strategy. -Finally, the banks identified their Natural Capital Strategy as a way to capture new opportunities with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who are considered the backbone of Caribbean economies, making up between 70-85% of businesses and contributing between 60-70% of GDP. They aim to use this new strategy as a driving force to help SMEs reduce risks, cut costs, drive innovation, access new markets, enhance their brands, and ensure long-term sustainability.