Sustainable cities and communities

As part of its strategic commitment to sustainability and inclusive growth, Garanti BBVA continues to host its series of events around the theme 'Sustainable Future in Exports.' The fourth installment of the series—previously held in Istanbul, Gaziantep, and İzmir—unfolded this year in Bursa.

To promote sustainable growth in the country, BBVA Mexico, González Calvillo (GC), PwC Mexico and the UN Environment Program held the first edition of the ESG Summit Mexico, in which -with the participation of experts and guests from organizations such as S&P, BlackRock and the Mexican Sustainable Finance Council-, the main aspects that a company must know to include environmental, social and corporate governance criteria into its business model were addressed.

The District of Bogota signed a one trillion Colombian peso (about $253 million) social loan with BBVA, which is in turn secured by the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, MIGA. This operation is the first that MIGA secures in local currency in Colombia and marks a milestone in the structured finance market for the country's public sector.

BBVA’s unit in Switzerland, together with Urban Connect, will debut their corporate fleet of e-bikes to be shared among the bank's Zurich-based employees.

2020 is a fundamental year to consolidate the fight against climate change. Following COP 25 in Madrid at the end of 2019, and in the middle of the UN strategy to pave the way for the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, a global pandemic has simultaneously put the resilience of Earth’s society to the test. 

According to UN projections, by 2050 more than 9.7 billion people will inhabit Earth with 68 percent living in urban areas. Of this 9.7 billion, the World Bank. estimates that 4.4 billion will live in Africa and 4.9 billion in Asia.

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.

Human beings have always dreamed of magnificent cities. The imagined and mythical, like the so-called Lyonesse not far from the coast of Cornwall, or the Seven Cities of Cíbola located somewhere in the southwest of North America, or El Dorado, hidden in the pre-Colombian jungle. Surely behind these dreams looms the aspiration to find a model of harmonious coexistence. These would be cities attuned with the natural environment that surrounds them. With hanging gardens like those in ancient Babylonia or cloistered in a precious valley like Machu Pichhu, although these two examples actually did exist.

According to the United Nations, today, more than half of the world's population lives in cities, a situation that will continue to escalate in the future. This has led to an increase in environmental pollution, inequality and poverty in these cities, a situation that testifies to the need to focus on advancing in UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) no. 11: To make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. In this task, BBVA also has a lot to say and to do.

BBVA Compass has officially become the first Rio Grande Valley company to take the Lights Out RGV! pledge, which will include a reduction in lighting in corporate and larger area offices.

For the ninth consecutive year, BBVA Compass once again sponsored the AFP Aware community service project, a campaign where the annual AFP Aware conference gives back to the region where the conferences is held.

A two degree limit on the rise of the earth’s temperature will not be enough to prevent the catastrophic effects of climate change. Extraordinary measures are therefore required to contain global warming, capping the increase to a maximum of 1.5 degrees before 2050. This is one of the main conclusions delivered by Peter Newman, professor of sustainability at Curtin University in Perth (Australia) during the opening session “Facing Climate Change” sponsored by BBVA and the Fundació Catalunya Europa.

Reducing the impact of its business on the environment is one of the strategic goals of BBVA in the fight against climate change and in driving sustainable development. To meet this challenge, BBVA has 15 buildings that have received the renowned LEED Gold and Platinum certificates as sustainable and efficient constructions that respect the environment.

Incorporating blockchain into the development of smart cities will make it possible to have a cross-cutting platform that connects the cities’ different services, adding greater transparency and security to all processes. In this new #BlockchainRevolution article, Stefan Junestrand explains how this technology can improve government management, support urban planning, underpin the collaborative economy and contribute to sustainability policies, in the framework of smart cities.