Kenya Commercial Bank's Group chief executive Paul Russo has been appointed to serve on the United Nations Environment Programme Finance (UNEP-FI) Leadership Council.
He joins other global leaders in mainstreaming and deepening sustainability integration across the financial industry.
The Council brings together CEOs and chairpersons of institutions elected to serve on the UNEP-FI Global Steering Committee, the board of the Principles for Responsible Banking or the board of the Principles for Sustainable Insurance.
The bank said Russo's appointment underpins the lender's commitment to accelerate and facilitate financing the transition to a more stable and sustainable economy.
UNEP FI head Eric Usher, welcomed Russo's appointment pointing towards the council's enhanced power to enable change.
"We are pleased to add a new member to our advisory body which is mandated to turbocharge sustainable ambition across the global financial system and strengthen the unique partnership between the UN and the finance community," Usher said.
Russo said his appointment is a great step to enable him rally the financial sector across East Africa to foster sustainable finance transformation.
He said it offers be a platform to deepen the integration of sustainability across the industry.
"At KCB Group, we have continued to set our focus on redefining the future of the African finance ecosystem by making investment decisions that consider financial returns while at the same time considering positive environmental, social and governance impacts," Russo said.
The bank will lend to customers running green-climate resilient investment assets and projects in Kenya and the region where the it operates as the implementing entity.
