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 Chairman 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.

BBVA Chairman Carlos Torres Vila, met this Thursday at the bank's headquarters in Madrid with the President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Mauricio Claver-Carone. This meeting is part of a series of working meetings that representatives of BBVA and the BBVA Microfinance Foundation will hold with members of the IDB. Sustainability was one of the issues on the agenda, in particular, support for the decarbonization of emerging countries, and especially in Latin America, as well as financial inclusion and the promotion of foreign investment in the region.

Banking plays a fundamental role as a financier of all productive sectors.  The influence that can be exerted on the behavior of banking customers and their environmental performance, through such financing, is critical to achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

-BBVA announces decarbonization targets for new economic sectors by 2030

BBVA has set intermediate targets to decarbonize its portfolio in four CO2-intensive industries. Following its commitment in March to stop financing coal-related companies by 2030 in developed countries and by 2040 for the rest, the bank now announces that between 2020 and 2030 it will reduce the carbon intensity in its loan portfolio by 52 percent in electricity generation; 46% in automobile manufacturing; 23% in steel production; and 17% in cement production. These sectors, together with coal, account for 60 percent of global CO2 emissions¹. BBVA will focus on accompanying its clients with financing, advice and innovation solutions as part of a global decarbonization effort.

Emerging economies should join the journey toward decarbonization. Their role in this challenge is a critical one, stressed Javier Rodríguez Soler, the Global Head of Sustainability at BBVA while speaking at the COP Talks. His panel focused on the impact of sustainable investments in emerging economies in the framework of COP26 in Glasgow.

Decarbonizing business activity is essential to drive a new industrial revolution that meets climate change objectives. Companies need to leverage technological innovation to place sustainability at the center of their growth strategy, and financial institutions are key players in accompanying them in this transition. Javier Rodríguez Soler, Head of Global Sustainability at BBVA, explained some of the key issues in this regard at the latest Money20/20 meeting held in Las Vegas (USA).

The CEO Climate Alliance of the World Economic Forum (WEF), of which Carlos Torres Vila is a member in his capacity as BBVA Chairman, is urging world leaders to take decisive climate action. In an open letter addressed to world leaders, the Alliance calls on world leaders to use the unique opportunity afforded by COP26 to “do more together” and create a better world for “people today and for generations to come”.

BBVA has acted as the sole sustainability coordinator for Wood, the  UK-headquartered global engineering and consulting firm, in a new syndicated sustainability linked financing facility involving sixteen financial institutions. The $1.2 billion facility is the second sustainability-linked loan (SLL) arranged by Wood.

BBVA has become the first financial institution to join the SME Climate Hub, a global initiative launched to help small and medium-sized companies to adopt sustainable measures as part of their activities to achieve the most ambitious target set in the Paris Agreement: Net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Through this alliance, BBVA, recognizing the pivotal role that small and medium-sized companies play in decarbonizing the planet, will support and finance these businesses in their eco-transition process.

BBVA, together with over 600 businesses from across the globe, signs an open letter to G20 leaders demanding more mobilization and ambition in the “the path to sustainable economic growth and shared prosperity.” The letter also urges them to go all in to at least halve emissions of G20 member countries by 2030. They also recognize the “great opportunities to be harnessed through a carefully managed transition.”

BBVA has acted as global and sustainability coordinator and advisor for COFCO International, the overseas agriculture business platform of China-based COFCO Corporation, in a new syndicated sustainable facility. For a total of USD 700 million and a tenor of 3 years, this financing is the second sustainability-linked loan (SLL) arranged by COFCO International, the sector’s leading sustainability performer and one of the most active commodity traders in the sustainable loan market. Apart from the coordinator roles, BBVA has also been appointed facility agent among a syndicate of seven international and Chinese banks.

BBVA is one of the 30 founding institutions of the Principles for Responsible Banking. In the last two years, it has reinforced its commitment to them through multiple actions, accessions and alliances with supranational organizations. In addition, and after incorporating sustainability as one of its strategic priorities in 2020, the bank recently created a global area of sustainability to elevate this matter to the highest executive level of the organization.

Banking sector commitment to UN Principles of Responsible Banking gains firm and steady traction: two years after launch 240 institutions have already become signatories. We take a look at this project of United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and the progress achieved since it launched two years ago.

With increasing frequency, Governments and financial and non-financial organizations are relying on the so-called sustainable finance instruments to fund projects intended to create a positive impact on the environment - such as the development of eco-friendly energy sources - and promote social and inclusive growth. In Spain, sustainable finance mobilized a total of €33.03 billion in 2020, according to data from the Spanish Observatory for Sustainable Financing (OFISO).

The BBVA unit thus becomes the first and only Turkish bank to join the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), which was launched in April by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI).

This September 1, BBVA has returned to the markets with a two-year floating rate senior preferred bond (FRN) issue. Investors’ interest in the bond issue was extraordinary, with demand reaching €4.75 billion, which allowed the bank to reduce the price to 15 basis points plus 3-month Euribor, which is 20 bps lower than the initial price talk (IPT). The social nature of the bond allowed the issue to close below the reasonable price assigned to the bond. “The market’s response has far exceeded expectations,” commented BBVA’s wholesale funding team in charge of the operation.

BBVA has been recognized as the world's global leader in sustaining communities at the Global Finance Awards 2021, which recognize global and regional leaders in different categories. The publication has especially valued “the bank's support for entrepreneurs via the Microfinance Foundation.” BBVA, the only Spanish bank to receive recognition as a “global leader”, has also won five other regional awards in different categories related to sustainability.

Green digital finance is geared to finance initiatives with a sustainable development goal. Its aim is to speed up the reassignment of capital to carbon-neutral assets and release new sources of climate and socially just finance.

Nabiax, a leader in data centers in Spain and Latin America, has converted one of their financing in the project finance format into a sustainable one for €320 million. BBVA acted as the sustainable coordinating bank for this sustainable financing that marks a milestone in the data technology sector.

The World Economic Forum's (WEF) Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, released a letter today, calling on the G7 and other world leaders to support a just transition. BBVA Chairman Carlos Torres Vila, the sole representative of a Spanish bank, has signed, together with 78 other CEOs or heads of large global companies, a declaration whose objective is to promote the contribution of the private sector in the fight against climate change.

BBVA reinforces its commitment to reducing the risks of climate change and joins PCAF (Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials), an alliance that enables financial institutions to assess and disclose the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions  of loans and investments.