Sustainability

At a meeting with Turkish media, CEO Mahmut Akten shared Garanti BBVA’s strategies and 2025 goals, while assessing the state of the global and Türkiye’s economies and the banking sector. Akten acknowledged ongoing global economic uncertainty but expressed optimism, citing Türkiye’s macroeconomic program and a balancing trend in the banking sector.  The event, held at the Pendik Technology Campus, also included a visit to Garanti BBVA’s TIER IV-certified Data Center.

The bank has reached 35.4 percent women in managerial positions, exceeding the target of 35 percent by 2024. Initiatives such as the global program ‘Yo soy talento feminino’ (I am female talent), is helping to boost the development of women with greater potential.

The aviation industry consumes 380 billion liters of fuel every year, or three percent of global  CO2 emissions. Sustainable aviation fuels  (SAF) are the most advanced cleantech alternative to decarbonize this industry, with innovations such as those of the startup Twelve, which have managed to reduce emissions by up to 90 percent compared to traditional fuels.

BBVA channeled €99 billion in sustainable business in 2024, setting a new annual record for the Group. BBVA reached this target of €300 billion in the 2018-2025 period one year earlier than planned.

BBVA CEO Onur Genç proclaimed at The World Economic Forum that in the Iberian Peninsula “we have in front of us a great opportunity to promote cleantech investment on a major scale.” In his view, it is essential to harness the development of industrial clusters in Spain and Portugal to lead the energy transition in Europe. In this context, the Iberian Peninsula has tremendous potential to generate economic growth on the back of clean technologies.

BBVA’s Turkish franchise secured its highest-ever score of 85 in the 2024 S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA), leading Türkiye’s banking sector once again. The bank also ranked 15th globally among 668 financial institutions assessed, further cementing its position as a leader in sustainability. S&P Global-CSA is one of the most respected platforms for evaluating corporate sustainability, providing a benchmark for international investors. The assessment covers areas such as business ethics, governance, risk management, climate action, transparency, and human rights.

By 2030, clean technologies, or ‘cleantech’ will mobilize over €150 billion of investment and create 2.65 million new jobs in the Iberian Peninsula, according to ‘Cleantech for Iberia’. These are some of the projections of the potential growth included in the new monographic study on sustainability published by BBVA, in this edition dedicated to clean technologies.

After seven years of giving a voice to more than 450 protagonists and having amassed a community of over 1 million followers, BBVA has celebrated these milestones by taking a further step forward in its education project for a greener and more inclusive future. The Palacio de la Prensa in Madrid recently hosted its first face-to-face event (open to everyone and with free entry) under the ‘Aprendemos juntos 2030’ (Learning Together 2030) international tour. The event was inaugurated by BBVA’s Chair, Carlos Torres Vila, who, together with prominent figures such as psychiatrist Marian Rojas Estapé, professor and writer Victor Küppers, and writer Daniel Habif, kicked off a series of events that will be held in Barcelona, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Lima and Montevideo throughout 2025.

For the fifth year running, BBVA earned the best score in the banking category in Europe and finished joint third globally in the latest S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA). Rating agency S&P carries out this CSA to determine those companies that make its Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila claimed “Education is a revolutionary force; it is the engine of opportunity and a foundation for equality” at a 'Aprendemos juntos 2030' (Learning Together 2030) event for a live audience, held today in Madrid. Carlos Torres Vila announced an international tour for this BBVA educational program, set to visit Barcelona, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Lima, and Montevideo in 2025.

For the first time this year, Garanti BBVA has secured a syndicated loan aligned with the Sustainable Debt Financing Framework. The loan is part of the bank’s international borrowing program and has a maturity of 367 days. The loan consists of two tranches, $244 million, and €162.4 million, with 43 banks participating. The loan was fully renewed, with costs set at SOFR + 1.75 percent, and Euribor +1.5 percent, respectively.

From November 11 to 22, Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan and host of COP29, will be in the spotlight. This Climate Summit, dubbed the "Finance COP," will focus on climate finance—specifically, how to assist developing countries in meeting their goals and protecting the global economy.

BBVA has channeled €26 billion in sustainable business in the third quarter of 2024, reaching a total of €71 billion for the first nine months of the year, a 44 percent increase over the same period last year.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.