A Dutch bank has announced that it is ending it is cutting ties with the cruel fur industry. Rabobank is a global leader in agriculture financing and revealed the move as parts of its new sustainability framework policy on animal welfare issues.
Robobank’s move is the latest stage in the fur industry’s decline in The Netherlands, which has passed legislation to ban the practice of cruel and polluting fur farming. Existing fur farmers are currently undergoing a phasing out period.
The new sustainability policy states the bank is now prohibited from: “Taking on new clients involved in fur industries, or expanding existing relationships with clients involved in fur activities”. By adopting this policy now, the bank will also be able to refuse financing Dutch fur farmers seeking to expand or move their activities to other countries.
- Read the Rabobank’s full Sustainability Framework Policy.
Rabobank is not the first bank to take such a step. In the UK, Co-operative Bank has for years officially denied its services businesses involved in the fur industry.
Here is Co-operative Bank’s official position, taken from their Ethical Policy:
We will not provide banking services to any business or organisation:
Involved in animal testing of cosmetic or household products or their ingredients, intensive farming methods (e.g. caged egg production), blood sports (e.g. the use of animals or birds in sport to catch, fight or kill each other) or the fur trade.
