Statement on the updated BBVA's Environmental and Social Framework from Chairman Carlos Torres Vila

At BBVA, sustainability is an essential part of our strategy, including the fight against climate change, which is one of the greatest disruptions humanity has faced.

We are committed to aligning our loan portfolio to the Paris Agreement goals to limit global warming and we support the need to reach net zero emissions for carbon dioxide by 2050.

To achieve these goals, it is crucial to promote the use of clean and sustainable energies over more polluting ones like coal, which is the fossil fuel that contributes the most to global CO2 emissions - 40 percent of the total.

Over the past three years, at BBVA we have mobilized more than €50 billion in sustainable financing, well ahead of our commitment to reaching €100 billion by 2025.

And today we have taken an important step forward, committing to reduce to zero our exposure to activities related to coal by no longer financing companies in those activities. And we will do so by 2030 in developed countries and by 2040 in other countries.

We will actively help our clients in this journey, supporting them with financing and advice in their transition to models based on sustainable energy sources.

Throughout 2021 we will complete this milestone with plans and targets for those sectors that, together with coal, represent two thirds of global CO2 emissions. In short, plans that contribute to the goal of net zero emissions by 2050.