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Environmental finance represents an emerging trend in developed economies, with a goal to become a part of a mainstream offer in products and services which are offered by financial institutions. The basic principle is to implement environmentally beneficial activities into financial institutions business practices. In the focus of this paper are banks, as significant financial institutions, and their capacity to implement sustainable practices in their business strategies. Descriptive analysis will show the capabilities and potential of banks to implement new and innovative management systems for improving environmental and social surroundings, as well as finding and eliminating major environmental and social risks. The aim of this paper is to point to social and environmental management system (SEMS) which are identified as leading and highly innovative worldwide. An overview of two specific SEMS is presented in this paper – Three Pillar Model of Procredit Bank and Nedbanks SEMS.

sustainable development, banking, management systems