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Sustainability and Responsible Banking

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1. Financing electrification and sustainable infrastructure at scale

Infrastructure is where climate ambition takes shape and becomes tangible: cleaner energy systems, modern grids, storage, transportation, efficient buildings, water management and resilient cities. The COP31 Presidency has placed electrification at the heart of the agenda, with the aim of increasing electricity’s share of final energy demand to 35 percent, up from 20 percent today.

 

Reaching this target will require massive investment in grids, clean energy, storage, electric mobility and industrial electrification, especially in emerging markets, where financial barriers remain high. In this context, banks play a critical role by turning these needs into bankable projects through financing, advisory services and risk management.

2. Making cleantech bankable

The next phase of the transition depends not only on deploying mature solutions, but also on making cleantech commercially viable. COP31 has made sustainable industrialization and clean energy key priorities, advancing technologies such as storage, hydrogen, alternative fuels, geothermal energy, carbon capture and circular industrial processes to decarbonize sectors with the highest emissions.

 

Banks can accelerate this process by helping to bridge the gap between innovation and investment. To do so, they structure financing, share risks, connect clients with public and private capital and support first-of-a-kind projects until they can be replicated at scale.

3. Supporting sustainability across value chains

Climate action increasingly depends on value chains. Companies cannot reach their transition targets without involving suppliers, clients and industrial partners. Aligned with COP31 priorities, this vision aims to promote more transparent, resilient and circular value chains that lower emissions and waste, strengthen SMEs and create new investment opportunities.

 

Banks can accelerate this process by combining financing and sustainable information, advisory services and solutions for companies and their ecosystems. The goal is not only to finance anchor companies but also to extend sustainability across their network of suppliers and clients.

4. Promoting resilience, conservation and regeneration of natural capital

The Paris Agreement not only aims to reduce emissions, but also to strengthen resilience to the impacts of climate change, which are already affecting ecosystems, communities, companies and infrastructure. However, adaptation financing remains insufficient. UNEP estimates that developing countries will need between $310 billion and $365 billion per year until 2035, compared with the $26 billion mobilized in 2023.

 

Banks play a critical role in this context by financing adaptation and integrating the analysis of physical risks, water management, biodiversity, agriculture and other nature-based solutions to strengthen territorial resilience.

5. Boosting sustainability for all

This transition will not last unless it is inclusive. To achieve this, it must support households, SMEs, women entrepreneurs, rural communities, migrants, workers and regions exposed to transition and physical risks. The IPCC notes that equity, inclusion and a just transition are vital to achieving more ambitious mitigation and adaptation targets.

 

In this context, banks face the challenge of making sustainability accessible and bankable for more people and small businesses. This means offering financial and non-financial solutions that support the transition of SMEs, women-led businesses, rural communities and other key groups.

6. Contributing to a sustainable financial system

Climate action requires a financial system capable of mobilizing capital at a greater scale, with better instruments and in the markets where the financing is needed most. At COP29, countries agreed to triple climate finance for developing countries to $300 billion per year by 2035, while calling on all actors to mobilize $1.3 trillion per year from public and private sources. This makes finance one of the central implementation challenges of the Paris Agreement. It also fits COP31’s approach to financing design, investable project portfolios and practical delivery mechanisms.

 

Banks can accelerate the transition through transition finance, blended finance, sustainable bonds, risk-sharing structures and support for their clients’ transition plans. They can also help foster a new financial architecture, especially in emerging economies.

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SDG

Towards 2029: BBVA and sustainability as a growth driver

Sustainability is a key strategic priority for BBVA, which views the energy transition as an opportunity to move forward and grow. For this reason, it supports its clients and offers advisory and financing services with the aim of contributing to the decarbonization of the economy and generating new business opportunities.