Sustainability
Today
Financial Times and Statista have identified those paving the way for diversity in Europe in their report, ‘Europe’s Diversity Leaders 2025’. The publication ranks BBVA as one of the most diverse companies in Europe; it is the top Spanish bank on the list and 13th in the entire banking sector.
23 Oct 2024
Amaya López-Durán Viani
Responsable del observatorio del sector industrial en el área de Sostenibilidad de BBVA
22 Oct 2024
Commitment
BBVA CIB reinforces its commitment to Brazil as a key driver in its expansion and leadership in sustainability
BBVA reinforces its strategy in Latin America with an ambitious expansion plan in Brazil, the largest wholesale market in the region. With a growing team and a strong focus on sustainability, the entity plans to deploy local capabilities by 2025 to serve more than 250 key companies in Brazil.
21 Oct 2024
Environmental Care
Turkish fire prevention alliance sponsored by Garanti BBVA completes three new projects
The Garanti BBVA-sponsored fire prevention partnership dubbed ‘Türkiye's Life: Fire Management Grant Program’ and headed by WWF Türkiye has successfully completed three new projects. One initiative, managed by Natura, focused on protecting caracal populations; another developed an eco-kit to leverage local knowledge and practices for preventing and fighting forest fires in the Köyceğiz-Gökova area; while the third project implemented fire-resilient production models.
18 Oct 2024
Sustainable gastronomy
BBVA and the Roca brothers extend their global partnership to 2027 following a decade of close-knit collaboration as brand ambassadors
BBVA and the owners of El Celler de Can Roca have renewed their partnership for three more years. On the 10th anniversary of the sponsorship, they are celebrating this alliance that has emerged from their shared values, and plan to continue developing new projects.
17 Oct 2024
BBVA was presented the ‘Sustainability Action 24’ award by Compromiso RSE for the bank’s support of the clean technology ecosystem. The organization specifically recognizes the creation of a unit dedicated exclusively to financing cleantech, as well as BBVA being the only financial institution participating in the ‘Cleantech for Iberia’ initiative.
11 Oct 2024
New York Climate Week, held alongside the United Nations General Assembly during the last week of September, has confirmed its status as a key venue—second only to the COPs—for advancing the global sustainability agenda.
10 Oct 2024
BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila, together with more than 110 Chairs and CEOs of large global companies, has joined a new declaration encouraging global leaders and the participants of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku (COP29) to “double down on climate action.” This letter from the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, promoted by the World Economic Forum (WEF), calls on governments and companies to join forces and address challenges because “every fraction of a degree counts” in the race to net zero emissions by 2050.
03 Oct 2024
Audio
BBVA Podcast
Podcast | Borusan Group: Designing climate resilient systems in operations and value chain with innovative resources
In this episode, we meet with Nursel Ölmez Ateş, the Head of Human, Communication and Sustainability at Borusan Holding. Discover how this prominent Turkish conglomerate is spearheading innovation and driving sustainable economic growth across its various business sectors.
19 Sep 2024
At a recent meeting of the Spanish Green Growth Group, key players in the cleantech ecosystem praised the new Industry Law as a catalyst for transforming Spain into Europe’s next industrial hub for clean technologies. Speakers pointed to the challenge of achieving net-zero emissions as an opportunity for the country.
17 Sep 2024
Audio
Robin Sharma is a writer and speaker, known for his humanitarian work. He is considered one of the top experts in leadership and personal growth. Best known for ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’, he has written over a dozen books over the past 20 years.
12 Sep 2024
Sustainability
BBVA creates a sustainability hub in Houston to become the bank of choice to finance the U.S. energy transition
BBVA Group opened a new office in Houston with the aim of leading the financing of the energy transition in the United States. This move to support its sustainability is spurred by the BBVA´s Group´s plans for growth in the country and forms part of its Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB) operations in the United States.
10 Sep 2024
Cleantech
Alberto Toril (Breakthrough Energy): “The role of financial institutions in decarbonisation is vital”
Cleantech, or new clean technologies, are all those technologies that will allow us, or at least should allow us, to achieve the EU’s overarching goal of becoming net zero in emissions by 2050. They are innovative solutions, in many cases disruptive and predicated on innovation and technology. Many of them are still in an embryonic stage. Other more mature proposals need funding to grow and, above all, to make them profitable and scalable for industrial applications.
We’re here to talk about all this with Alberto Toril Castro, energy sector manager at Breakthrough Energy, a platform featuring various climate funds and founded by Bill Gates. As an advocate of affordable green energy, he firmly believes that “electrification is the future of the economy.” He calls for more public-private partnerships in the cleantech ecosystem and proclaims that “financial institutions play a key role when it comes to decarbonization.”
26 Aug 2024
Diversity
LGTBIQ+ diversity at BBVA: the importance of role models in creating inclusive environments
As is customary each year, BBVA has been joining in the LGTBIQ+ Pride celebrations in a bid to spread the word among employees about the importance of creating safe spaces for everyone. Shining the spotlight on LGTBIQ+ role models has been working wonders by raising awareness in the countries in which the bank operates. “At BBVA we want to be an even more inclusive and open company, with more role models, more stories and more safe spaces,” remarks Cristina Gabriel, Head of Diversity at BBVA.
Audio
David JP Phillips is an internationally acclaimed Swedish public speaker, author and coach. Focusing primarily on public speaking skills, David works with some of the world’s most influential companies, including Google, Microsoft, Dell, Disney, Oracle and HP. He has been named by Global Gurus as the eighth best communicator worldwide and his TEDx talks have been viewed over 10 million times.
The natural world possesses deep value that economic systems have been shunning for centuries. However, understanding and harnessing this natural capital is key to finding solutions to climate change. New Zealand is a prime example of how countries can integrate this concept within their business community and public institutions. In BBVA’s monographic study titled ‘Natural capital, curbing climate change’, you can learn more about the benefits and rewards of using natural capital as a means of improving social well-being.
22 Aug 2024
Garanti BBVA has been honored as Türkiye’s "Best Private Bank for Sustainable Finance" at the Global Sustainable Finance Awards, organized by The Digital Banker magazine, a globally trusted news, business intelligence, research and awards body, servicing the worldwide financial services sector.
14 Aug 2024
Commitment
More than 6,300 BBVA employees have participated in the different activities of volunteer month
In the month of June, the financial institution held nearly 50 volunteer activities worldwide in which more than 6,300 bank employees participated. With these activities, BBVA is promoting support for society and the environment through volunteering.
08 Aug 2024
BBVA is reinforcing its commitment to the agricultural sector, working with four out of every ten agricultural co-ops in spain. This support is particularly significant in the food and agriculture sector - one of the most dynamic in the Spanish economy, and a real opportunity to launch new business ventures. In addition, it is a fundamental sector to tackle the demographic challenge, the fight against depopulation and the preservation of local biodiversity.
02 Aug 2024
BBVA channelled €26 billion in sustainable business in the second quarter of 2024, a new quarterly record for the Group. Furthermore, the total amount mobilized in the first half of 2024 reached €46 billion, 37 percent more than the same period of 2023.
26 Jul 2024
Cleantech
Michael Geyer, Managing Director of Malta Iberia: ''The Iberian Peninsula is in a privileged position to store renewable energy through cleantech"
Storing electricity to use up to eight days later - electricity that comes from renewable sources. This is the milestone being marked by Malta, the U.S. company dedicated to clean technologies. Its Managing Director in Spain, Michael Geyer, sees the Iberian Peninsula as a strategic region to deploy these new technologies, or ‘cleantech’. “The Iberian Peninsula is in a privileged position to host innovative solutions for energy storage based on cleantech,” he explained in an interview with bbva.com.
24 Jul 2024
BBVA has earned a rating of EE (“strong compliance”), making it the highest-rated bank in Spain and tied for second place worldwide with other entities, according to the latest update of the Standard Ethics Rating (SER). This assessment covers the ESG scores of Europe's 40 largest banks by market capitalization.
Clean technologies, also known as 'cleantech', are technologies that contribute to sustainability and care for the environment. This includes emissions reduction, biodiversity protection and water treatment.
The Iberian Peninsula is on the cutting edge of Europe’s cleantech revolution. It is believed that the industry will create some 2.65 million new jobs and mobilize €150 billion in investment across the region by 2030. These impressive figures are revealed in a new report headed up by BBVA and Cleantech for Iberia, a coalition set up to drive the potential of Spain and Portugal as a clean energy hub in the European Union.
18 Jul 2024
Social
The Queen of Spain meets with the young scholarship winners from the BBVA Microfinance Foundation
Six young students from Colombia and Peru, the children of vulnerable entrepreneurs served by the BBVA Microfinance Foundation, met with the Queen of Spain after winning the college scholarships granted by the foundation and BBVA in Colombia. These scholarships cover tuition and academic costs for the young students until they finish their studies. It is an opportunity for them to have a better future for themselves and their families.
17 Jul 2024
Audio
In episode number 20 of BBVAGreenfluencers, we travel to Italy to the central train station of Rome, the largest in Italy.Our colleague Claudia Modesti, Head of Financial Institutions Group Coverage and Public Sector Italy at BBVA, shares a conversation with Vittoria Iezzi, Head of Debt Capital Markets of the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group, to discover how the institution strives to create an ecosystem of sustainable mobility and integrated logistics that can have interconnected and resilient infrastructures.
15 Jul 2024
Cleantech
Javier Rodríguez Soler: “BBVA’s sectoral specialization is key to successfully managing decarbonization and supporting our clients”
Javier Rodríguez Soler has been heading up BBVA’s global Sustainability area since 2021 and in July 2023 he was also named global head of Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB), the wholesale banking area that serves the biggest clients (corporations, institutions, and the like). Combining growth and sustainability is one of its mantras. According to Javier, it is possible to grow and decarbonize at the same time, and BBVA is living proof of this. More precisely, he believes that “sectoral specialization is key to successfully managing decarbonization while supporting our clients.”
11 Jul 2024
Action and Investment ODS Plan
Banks, key enablers of the energy transition and in reducing social divides
At the 2nd BBVA Mexico Sustainability Summit recently held in Mexico City, all the companies participating in the event were urged to press ahead with their energy transition processes. The participants agreed that banks are the key enablers in this process through the funding and expert advice they provide, allowing businesses to transition toward an emission-free economy that embraces all industries and segments of society.
10 Jul 2024
Commitment
Carlos Torres Vila: "Mexico is one of the countries with the most potential in the world in wind and solar power"
BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila stated that in the fight against climate change, "Mexico is at an advantage as it is one of the countries with the most potential in the world in wind and solar power." He also emphasized the Group's commitment to the country's energy transition. “We must do more to support emerging markets. They have the most natural resources and are therefore a key part of the solution," he proclaimed at the opening of the 2nd BBVA Mexico Sustainability Summit held in Mexico City.
Food
Croquettes, arepas and tacu-tacu: tips for making the most of leftovers and cutting down on food waste
What if, instead of throwing them in the trash, we transform leftovers of meat, fish, vegetables, and many other foods into tasty bites? Croquettes, arepas, and tacu-tacu are the most well-known options, but there are other recipes that expand the flavors and textures in zero-waste cuisine.