BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila announced today at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos that BBVA and the Edison Alliance are joining forces with the BBVA Microfinance Foundation's commitment to contribute to the digital inclusion of vulnerable populations in Latin America.

BBVA mobilized €10.81 billion in sustainable financing between January and March, 2022, up 26% from the previous quarter, making it a quarter record. In total, BBVA has mobilized €96.7 billion in sustainable financing between 2018 and 2022’s first quarter.

BBVA's environmental footprint has decreased considerably in the past two years. In 2021, energy consumption per employee was 14% lower than in 2019, water consumption was 5% lower and paper consumption was 32% lower. Net waste per employee dropped by 52% over the same period.

On April 21, 2021, 43 financial institutions from around the world formed the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA).   BBVA now celebrates its first anniversary as a founding member by leading progress in the financial sector toward a more sustainable world.

BBVA’s donation drive in Spain among its employees, customers and non-customers has already collected two million euros, in addition to the bank’s own contribution of one million euros. Nearly 50,000 donors have joined this campaign in aid of Ukraine.

Uber, Instagram, Twitter, and Google are some of the companies in which Lowercase Capital & Lowercarbon Capital's founders invested when they were startups. Chris and Crystal Sacca have invested in innovative startups for years, first in technology and more recently in the fight against climate change. As widely known investors, activists and philanthropists in the U.S., they devote a major effort to environmental protection.

BBVA will co-chair the Climate Finance Leadership Initiative (CFLI) in Colombia, a new public-private partnership that aims to mobilize capital in support of Colombia's climate goals. The initiative will be replicated in other countries to close the climate finance gap in emerging markets.

Three energy projects financed by Garanti BBVA were recently presented with three awards by IJ Global, one of the world's leading journals for energy and infrastructure finance. The prestigious magazine recognized the bank for three projects it financed. The Star Refinery project was presented the award for the Oil and Gas Project of the Year in Europe; the Central Anatolian Natural Gas Combined Cycle Plant project (with installed capacity of 853 MW) won the award for the Best Energy Restructuring Project of the Year in Europe; and the Kalyon - YEKA Karapinar Solar Power Plant Project received the award for the Export Finance Agreement of the Year.

Garanti Bank is cooperating with the Turkish Marine Environment Protection Association/TURMEPA to further its goal of working toward a sustainable world and combating the climate crisis. Both organizations are collaborating to collect waste and prevent marine pollution in the Marmara Sea and the provinces of the region as part of the “Blue Breath Project”.

Given the massive influx of Ukrainian refugees leaving their country as a result of the Russian military invasion and looking for a place to live, BBVA has offered the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations 200 homes for refugees. The homes will be able to house up to 800 people and are spread throughout Spain, but are mostly located in Catalonia, Valencia and Andalusia.

BBVA has launched its Global Financial Education Plan through 2025 with the aim of training one million people and reaching 50 million people who access BBVA content on this subject. The plan, which will be implemented in all countries where BBVA is present, has three lines of action in financial education: society, business support and collaboration.

BBVA is firmly committed to working towards building a greener and more inclusive society. To this end, for the second consecutive year and on the occasion of the Annual General Meeting, the bank will make a donation of 300,000 euros to social organizations working in four areas related to the environment and inclusive growth. ATADES, Aldeas Infantiles SOS, Asociación Amica and ECODES were the winning organizations in 2022.

BBVA has reinforced its commitment to the environment by releasing its third report according to recommendations issued by the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). In a TCFD report, companies showcase their environmental activities and provide information on risks and opportunities around climate change.

In 2021, 79 percent of energy consumption at BBVA's facilities around the world came from renewable sources, surpassing the 70 percent target set in its 2025 Pledge on direct environmental impacts. The bank has also managed to reduce its direct CO2 emissions worldwide by 67.5 percent compared to 2015, very close to the 68 percent target set for 2025.

Garanti BBVA recently completed its first circular economy loan. The bank’s €18 million loan to Altek Metal forms part of its commitment to support the transition to a low carbon economy.

Loans to wholesale, corporate and individual clients represent 71.6 percent (€61.4 billion) of the €86 billion BBVA has channeled in sustainable financing between 2018 and 2021. These loans are a fundamental part of the sustainable solutions promoted by the bank to identify the opportunities that arise from climate change and inclusive growth. The remaining 30 percent mainly comes from bond intermediation, project finance and socially  responsible investment.

BBVA has accelerated the volume of financing for sustainability-related projects, both for climate action and those that contribute to inclusive economic growth In 2021, the bank channeled 35.4 billion euros in sustainable finance, up 72% from 2020, and totaling 86 billion since announcing its sustainable finance commitment in 2018 This amount is 43% of the announced total target: 200 billion euros for the 2018-2025 period.

BBVA has improved one position in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), thus becoming the most sustainable bank in the world, together with the South Korean bank, KB Financial Group. Both banks received the highest score in the global banks category. After holding the second position for the past two years, this is the first time that BBVA has reached the top position in this benchmark international ranking.

BBVA has joined the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium (MCSC) in order to accelerate the development of large-scale solutions to fight climate change. BBVA is currently the only bank in the world in this alliance, which includes 15 leading companies from different sectors, working together with MIT academic research teams. The members of the consortium will share processes and strategies for environmental innovation.

As part of its efforts in sustainable finance, Garanti BBVA is to implement the Green Finance Specialist training course for some of its employees, in cooperation with the Green for Growth Fund (GGF) Technical Support Facility and the Renewable Energy Academy (RENAC). The course aims to increase the technical expertise of about 30 Garanti BBVA employees who work in different regions as loan officers, loan specialists and other related areas.

BBVA is one of 28 banks around the world that has joined the global commitment to promote financial inclusion and the financial health of its customers. Under the umbrella of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Banking, the aim of this benchmark index is for a group of banks to join forces to accelerate a collective effort for these issues.

Both organizations have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen the mobilization of financial resources in Latin America and the Caribbean and to increase cooperation to boost economic recovery in the post-COVID era.

On November 24th, BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila took part in the first session of the UNEP FI Leadership Council, the United Nations Environment Programme - Financial Initiative’s (UNEP FI) new body. BBVA is the only Spanish bank on this council, which is comprised of chairpersons or CEOs of financial institutions around the world. UN Secretary General António Guterres also addressed the council.

As of January 2021, 12 percent¹  of BBVA’s new financing is connected to sustainability, according to the figures released on Investor Day, which was held last week. At this event, BBVA’s Global Head of Sustainability, Javier Rodríguez Soler, also announced that BBVA expects to channel over €35 billion in sustainable financing in 2021. This represents more than 70 percent growth from 2020. “Decarbonization, in particular, and sustainability, in general, represent the greatest transformation in the history of humankind,” Rodríguez Soler stressed. This phenomenon represents an “huge business opportunity” for BBVA and its shareholders.

“Despite there being multiple initiatives, frameworks, standards and guidance tools, it is urgent to build a global system to measure the real impacts of businesses on society and the environment,” said BBVA Global Head of Responsible Business Antoni Ballabriga, speaking at an event organized by UNEP FI (UN Environment Program – Finance Initiative).

For the second consecutive year, BBVA has obtained the best score in the European banking category and a second place at global level in the latest Dow Jones Sustainability Index, released on Friday, November 12, 2021. This is the benchmark index for sustainability worldwide, which has singled out BBVA, among more than 200 financial institutions, for its ESG ('Environmental, Social and Governance') performance. 24 banks have been included in the index.

BBVA has advised Holcim, global leader of building solutions based in Switzerland, on the structuring and syndication of its main bank financing, as well as on how to link the financing to environmental, health and safety indicators. BBVA acted as global coordinator and sustainability coordinator in this new syndicated revolving credit facility, the first sustainable transaction that the bank has closed in Switzerland.