With the slogan “Time for Action”, the goal of the 2019 Madrid Climate Change Conference is for the countries to present their commitments and finalize the rules needed to implement the Paris Agreement in 2020. On an individual level, this conference is a good time to reflect on our own consumption habits and look at how to manage our personal finances in a sustainable, eco-friendly manner.

“We are in a climate emergency. It is currently the most pressing challenge humanity must face, and we have to be fast in taking action,” declared BBVA CEO Onur Genç, who recognized the important role sustainable finance plays in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. In a panel on the financial sector and sustainability at the Climate Change Conference in Madrid, BBVA’s CEO underscored the financial institution’s role in accompanying clients in this crucial environmental transition.

Year 2050: 300 (270–340) million people today live on land indicated as vulnerable to an annual flood event. According to a report by Nature Communications, at the current rate of global warming and Antarctic ice sheet instability, estimates of vulnerability to sea-level rise and coastal flooding triple for Asia, to a greater extent, but also European Mediterranean countries.

BBVA’s practices in support of human rights have been assessed and recognized as one of world’s best in ‘The BankTrack Human Rights Benchmark 2019’ a industry benchmark report published Banktrack. BBVA’s overall mark - 7.5 points, after improving 4 points with respect to the 2016 edition, the highest increase by any of the 50 banks analyzed – placed the bank fourth in list released by the NGO, behind ABN AMRO and Rabobank (Netherlands) and Australia's ANZ.

BBVA Momentum winner Laura Hertz, founder of Gifts for Good, continues to do well by doing good. The social entrepreneur was recognized by Forbes magazine in its list of 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs for 2020. 

For years Garanti BBVA has spearheaded projects that give back to society. Now the bank is kicking-off a new initiative: helping its customers celebrate their birthdays by making a contribution to a local charity.

The rise in the global temperature has negative effects on the planet - effects that are difficult to revert in some cases. Increasing frequent heat waves, devasating fires - like the recent fires in California - and natural disasters like tropical cyclones, floods and droughts, have had an enormous impact on the environment and socioeconomic development.

BBVA participated at a conference in Luxembourg organized by United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). During the forum, which coincided with the start of the Climate Summit in Madrid, BBVA laid out its strategy to help its customers transition toward a low-carbon economy and integrate climate risks into their decision-making.

Economists’ warnings about global warming are nothing new; their voices join those of scientists, ecologists, and international organizations. There are many Nobel Prize winners among those raising the alarm.

The Spanish capital gears up to host this year’s UN Climate Summit. Now in its 25th iteration, the annual conference will aim to approve programs to fight climate change and raise public awareness about the urgency of the challenge.