Climate Action

COP28 has ended and following intense debates and difficult consensus, we have seen considerable progress in the development of sustainable cooling. Refrigeration is not only necessary for the life of numerous households - it is essential for sectors such as food, logistics, digital technology and tourism.

BBVA is extending its interim emission reduction targets for 2030 to two relevant sectors, aviation and shipping, in order to move its client portfolio toward net zero emissions by 2050. These two sectors join the oil and gas, power generation, automotive, steel, cement, and coal sectors, whose emission reduction targets were published by BBVA in 2021 and 2022.

Turkey's first and only carbon trading platform, Erguvan (erguvan.co), has offset the carbon emissions of airport operator TAV in Ankara, Izmir and Enfidha. TAV supported two Verra-licensed projects, one of the leading carbon standards in the voluntary carbon market, and offset 21,603 tons of carbon emissions through the Erguvan platform.

BBVA is repeating as the only Spanish bank on the Steering Committee of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). The bank has been a founding member of this alliance since April 2021. NZBA is a forum promoted by United Nations that defines the frame of reference for the decarbonization of the banking sector: a robust, science-based framework that underpins the credibility of the voluntary commitments.

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.

Garanti BBVA acted as main sponsor of Harvard Business Review Turkey's Sustainability Summit held last week, where business leaders and experts discussed various approaches to understanding, internalizing and focusing on sustainability.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

Garanti BBVA, in collaboration with the TURMEPA association, has launched the Mavi Nefes project. An initiative aimed at raising awareness of waste disposal in the Sea of Marmara and cleaning up the waters so as to prevent marine pollution.

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.”

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).

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.

BBVA has joined the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) as one of the 43 founding members. Banks in this international alliance commit to ensuring that all of their credit and investment portfolios are neutral in net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, in line with science and the most ambitious targets in the Paris Agreement. In addition, the direct impact of their activities must also be neutral - something that BBVA already achieved in 2020.

Citizens, companies, city councils and institutions from all over the world will turn off the lights this Saturday, March 23 for Earth Hour to fight against climate change and the loss of biodiversity. BBVA participates for yet another year in this initiative organized since 2007 by the World Wildlife Fund, turning off a hundred headquarters, corporate buildings and branches spread throughout all the countries where the bank is present.

BBVA Global Head of Responsible Business Antoni Ballabriga, speaking at a webinar on decarbonization and the financial sector, pointed at the sustainable mobilization of the economy as a whole as the most pressing challenge facing the financial sector, and noted that, in this effort, "it is essential to accompany clients with sustainable financial solutions and advice."

BBVA has ranked first among European banks in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), the market's leading benchmark index, which measures the economic, environmental and social performance of the world's largest companies by market cap. The BBVA Group also took second place in the world ranking. The announcement was made on Friday, at the closing of the stock market in New York.

BBVA illuminated the main building at its company headquarters in Madrid—La Vela—to mark the fifth anniversary of the launching of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). BBVA opted for the color blue of the United Nations flag to commemorate the date on which 193 countries adopted the 2030 Agenda at UN headquarters in New York.

More than a third of the global banking industry has signed the Principles for Responsible Banking, which this month celebrates its one-year anniversary. This milestone demonstrates the sector’s commitment to sustainability and aligning its business activity to the promises made in the Paris Agreement and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Today, international banks BBVA, BNP Paribas, ING, Société Générale and Standard Chartered (also known as ‘the Katowice Banks’) published a report on the application of the PACTA methodology, designed to steer their credit portfolios towards the objective of the Paris Climate Agreement. This report aims at helping banking peers to quickly understand and apply this methodology and thus publish comparable results.

BBVA and Grupo Piñero agreed three sustainable bilateral financing deals on behalf of Levantur. These are the first sustainable bilateral loans to be guaranteed by Spain’s Official Institute of Credit (ICO). The Spanish tourist Group will use the financing for liquidity and working capital needs arising from the economic impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

• BBVA invested €40.6 million in sustainable and social programs in Latin America in 2019
• In its 13 years of service, the BBVA Microfinance Foundation has helped more than five million people
• BBVA delivers innovative financial education programs in Mexico
• BBVA Argentina is the first private bank to launch a line of personal eco-loans
• BBVA in Colombia closes a line of green guarantees to build the Bogota metro
• In Peru, BBVA leads the way in using the Environmental Ministry’s carbon footprint tool
• Sustainable finance in the region: BBVA, breaking new ground with deals in the wholesale market