Pablo García-Rubio

UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 sets out the need to foster sustainable and environmentally-responsible consumption and production patterns. Within the scope of this goal, one of the key strategies that countries need to embrace is the so-called “three Rs” approach: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, to ensure that waste generation and management is as sustainable as possible.

The consequences of climate change are already so obvious, it is hard to deny the extreme situation the planet is facing a climate emergency situation. The growing number of natural disasters, outbreaks of forest fires, and the extinction of hundreds of species are some of the most alarming indications of a phenomenon that threatens the survival of the planet and with it, the human species.

Roger Launius, former chief historian at NASA was at BBVA headquarters to deliver one of the featured speeches for Values Day: “Getting to the Moon: the value of the most important idea in human history.”  Launius used the history of the Apollo program and man's landing on the Moon as examples of two of BBVA’s corporate values: ‘We are one team,’ and ‘We think big.’

“We need a massive change and digitalization can not only radically accelerate the pace at which we mobilize funds for sustainable development, but also improve the use of these funds by enabling a better management of their social impact,” explained BBVA Global Head of Responsible Business Antoni Ballabriga, during the European Banking Summit, held in Brussels on October 2 and 3.

“The financial sector’s Collective Commitment for Climate Action is an important step toward working as a true global coalition. It is the industry’s most ambitious commitment to the climate,” explained Antoni Ballabriga, the Global Head of Responsible Business at BBVA, during his presentation at one of the round table discussions taking place in parallel to the climate conference held in New York this week.