Sustainability and with it inclusive growth are at the center of Garanti BBVA's strategy. As part of its efforts, the bank continues to support the EU Green Deal harmonization process in Türkiye, hosting a themed program of events titled ‘Sustainable Future in Exports.’

The bank organized a variety of different volunteer programs in December in every country where it has a presence. Over 1,100 volunteers participated in 36 charitable activities, which primarily entailed collecting food and toys and supporting underprivileged groups.

The world's leading recruiter PageGroup. which operates globally as Michael Page, Page Personnel, Page Executive and Page Outsourcing, has signed an £80 million sustainability Club Deal facility led by BBVA. The new financing will support PageGroup in pursuing a twofold objective: to fight climate change and contribute to gender equality. BBVA has been mandated as sole sustainability coordinator in this transaction, in which HSBC also participated, with each entity providing £40 million in sustainable financing.

“It's the determined action in the countries where this foundation is present, and above all, the real transformation in so many peoples' lives, that urge us to hope and strengthens us,” Her Majesty said during the ceremony held to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the BBVA Microfinance Foundation (BBVAMF). BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila said, "in recent years the Microfinance Foundation has made a commendable effort to bring digitalization and connectivity to microentrepreneurs and their communities, as a driver of development and a gateway to opportunities." The event also served as the occasion to premiere the documentary 'After the Rain,' a tribute to the courage and resilience of the more than six million vulnerable people that the Foundation has supported over these past fifteen years.

BBVA sees the challenge of diversity as one of the most important strategic pillars of its corporate culture and a wealth to be promoted. To this end, BBVA Switzerland is joining the Group's diversity and equality initiatives with a new project with WeBloom, a Swiss organization dedicated to diversity, inclusion and sustainability in science and technology.

Garanti BBVA was once again included in CDP’s global ‘A list’ for its climate change program thanks to the bank’s sustainability efforts, especially in climate change and inclusive growth. CDP’s climate change program is considered one of the world’s most important reporting platforms. Garanti BBVA has been reporting to the organization’s climate change program, and the public, since 2009, and to the CDP water program since 2015. The bank continues to be the main support of CDP in Türkiye.

For the eighth consecutive year, BBVA's Turkish unit is the only company from Türkiye to be included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). The bank has made it into the DJSI Emerging Markets category every year since 2015, and this year repeated its success with a record score of 82 points, the sixth-highest among global financial institutions.

For the third consecutive year, BBVA obtained the highest score in the European banks category, and the second highest score globally in the latest Dow Jones Sustainability Index - the benchmark global reference for sustainability. The annual analysis was published on December 9th, and included a total of 25 banks this year.

Garanti BBVA, the BBVA Group’s Turkish franchise,  integrates climate change and inclusive growth within its core strategies. In line with that commitment, Garanti BBVA has launched a program of events called 'Sustainable Future in Exports' to support Türkiye’s adaptation to the European Green Deal and pave the way to sustainable investment. At the first event, held on November 23, 2022 at Fişekhane Istanbul, the bank explained the European Green Deal and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to the sectors and institutions–especially SMEs–that will be affected by the new rules governing exports to the EU.

Garanti BBVA has renewed a $400 million syndicated loan in separate tranches of $155 million and €238.5 million maturing at 367 days. The syndicate of international lenders comprises 23 banks from 13 countries.

The Global Head of Sustainability at BBVA, Javier Rodríguez Soler, said that we are seeing a growing interest in carbon markets, which "will play a critical role in the energy transition." In an online panel organized by the Institute of International Finance (IIF) in the framework of the COP27 held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Javier Rodríguez Soler acknowledged that "there is increasing pressure to buy quality carbon credits."

As a result of its joining Net Zero Asset Managers in 2021, BBVA Asset Management has announced its initial targets for decarbonization of assets under management. This initial commitment affects equities and bonds in managed portfolios in Spain and Mexico. The scope of the commitment will be widened in coming years. BBVA AM has set intermediate commitments for the year 2030, which include a 50% reduction of carbon emissions of its equity and corporate fixed income assets.

BBVA channeled a total of €124 billion in sustainable business between 2018 and September 2022, of which €13 billion corresponds to the third quarter of 2022, a 60% increase over the same period in 2021.

BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila, alongside other leaders of major global companies, has signed a statement calling on world leaders and participants at the Sharm El Sheikh United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 27) to commit convincingly to a just transition. "This transition needs a radical rethinking of how we do business," explains the statement from the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders promoted by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Garanti BBVA has entered a strategic partnership with Erguvan, the country’s first and only digital carbon credit trading platform to accelerate compliance for its export clients and help them meet the target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030.

In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Garanti BBVA’s Head of Customer Solutions and Digital Banking Işıl Akdemir Evlioğlu analyzed the latest developments in digitization and mobile banking, as well as the bank’s investments in this field, following 15 years of mobile banking.

The latest figures from the BBVA Microfinance Foundation (BBVAMF)’s Research team estimate that extreme poverty in Latin America has increased in the last few years because of the pandemic and recently, as a result of the war in Ukraine and the state of the global economy, among other reasons. To such an extent that currently, of every 100 poor people, 42 are in extreme poverty, that is, they cannot cover their basic needs, including food.

The BBVA Turkish unit will offer the first online training session for the Women Entrepreneurs Academy of Türkiye, in collaboration with Boğaziçi University Lifelong Education Center (BÜYEM).

The Group’s Turkish franchise adds a different dimension to its work on sustainability and inclusive growth, two areas at the center of its strategy.

BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila today announced that the bank will increase its sustainable finance target by 50 percent. “Sustainability is a business opportunity,” because the amount of investment required is huge ($275 trillion through 2025), he said at the Institute for International Finance (IIF) annual meeting in Washington, DC.  In this sense, he added that the bank has been channeling sustainable financing “at a really fast pace”, which prompted the bank to surpasse in June 2022 the initial goal set for 2025. For that reason, “today I can announce that we’re now upping the ante again to €300 billion for the period 2018-2025,” he said.

BBVA invests 10 million euros in the world's largest clean hydrogen infrastructure fund financing the whole hydrogen value chain scale up. This is a strategic investment for BBVA, as hydrogen is shaping up to be a possible solution to decarbonize the most emission-intensive sectors of the economy.

Learning to deal with conflicts, to train emotions and to speak in public are three very important aspects for the emotional wellbeing of children. A group of parents, with the support of the teaching and management team of the Nuestra Señora de La Paloma public school in Madrid, has launched a project to help children manage their feelings, frustrations and fears.

BBVA placed €1.25 billion in a green bond issue of senior preferred debt today, with a seven year maturity. The issue price was set at mid-swap plus 155 basis points, below the initial target price (mid-swap plus 175-180 basis points). This is the Group’s first bond issue with a “green” seal for senior preferred debt and the largest with this label for a Spanish financial issuer.