Environment

The bank is the first in Spain to certify its entire portfolio of properties for its own use. BBVA successfully audited a total of 30 buildings and 1,882 branch offices in Spain under the ISO 50001 energy efficiency standard. In addition, the bank has renewed its ISO 14001 waste management certificate for a total of 21 buildings and 13 branch offices, or 43 percent of the total surface area of the bank’s properties.

BBVA in Colombia has reached an agreement with Isagen to convert long-term finance of 368 billion pesos to sustainable loans linked to compliance with an environmental indicator. The index measures carbon emissions intensity in relation to energy generation as part of a pledge made by the power generation company to help preserve a more sustainable world.

In 2021, 79 percent of energy consumption at BBVA's facilities around the world came from renewable sources, surpassing the 70 percent target set in its 2025 Pledge on direct environmental impacts. The bank has also managed to reduce its direct CO2 emissions worldwide by 67.5 percent compared to 2015, very close to the 68 percent target set for 2025.

Of 8,300 known animal species, 8% are extinct and 22% are endangered. These United Nations figures place the planet on the brink of what some scientists now call "the sixth mass extinction." The impact of human action on ecosystems is causing many species to disappear, with irreversible harm to biodiversity and the environment.

Subscribe to our weekly sustainability newsletter!

In response to the devastating forest fires that have spread throughout several regions of Turkey, Garanti BBVA announced a donation of one million saplings to the TEMA Foundation, an NGO dedicated to the fight against erosion and desertification through reforestation and the protection of natural habitats.

BBVA USA Business Banking Relationship Manager Jeffrey Silva and his son Zane have been on a mission to clean up their part of their hometown of Las Cruces.

Placing the core values of its corporate culture at the heart of its banking activities, Garanti BBVA issued its Integrated Annual Report 2020 with the concept "The Meaning We Attach to Words". Integrating the real life reflections of its commitments to the society alongside economic indicators in its legal annual reporting, Garanti BBVA also describes the sustainability principles it has implemented in the process.

Generation Z expects a financial model that meets their needs in terms of digitalisation, immediacy and respect for the environment. Born at the heart of the digital age, they expect services that live up to their requirements for transparency and constant attention.

BBVA was recently named Best Investment Bank for Sustainable Financing by Global Finance as part of its 22nd annual World’s Best Investment Banks survey.

In naming the global winners, Publisher and Editorial Director Joseph D. Giarraputo pointed out the role investment banks will play in the world post-pandemic, specifically mentioning the importance of understanding the skills and specialties that these banks bring. For BBVA USA, sustainability is a clear differentiating factor and has become especially important over the past year.

Garanti BBVA is launching a product to finance the installation of solar energy systems on rooftops for self-consumption.

Garanti BBVA launches ‘Garanti Portföy Temiz Enerji Karma Fon’, an innovative fund that invests in capital market instruments tied to Turkish and international companies in the sector of clean, renewable and alternative energy technologies.

The BBVA Foundation distinguishes Neil Adger, Ian Burton and Karen O’Brien with a with a Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Climate Change category for the contributions of their studies on social adaptation to climate change. This social perspective transforms a paradigm of research and action that was previously limited to the curbing of greenhouse gas emissions

Under the agreement with EBRD, Garanti BBVA will prioritize its investments with high sustainability performance for those who want to improve their performance while financing the investment projects.

BBVA, as sole sustainability coordinator, advised Publiacqua, one of the major water management companies in Italy, on how to link its core bank financing to environmental targets. The transaction consisted of converting an existing loan of EUR 140Mn into a sustainability-linked loan with two pure water management KPIs. With this financing, Publiacqua becomes the first water utility company in Italy to have sustainability features in their financing instruments.

Garanti BBVA has been included in the CDP’s Global ‘A List’ thanks to its successful work raising awareness and managing environmental risks.

Invitation Homes [NYSE: INVH] announced that it has entered into a $3.5 billion syndicated sustainability-linked credit facility, where BBVA USA acted as sole Sustainable Agent & Coordinator, and as a Documentation Agent, Joint Lead Arranger and Joint Bookrunner.

With the announcement, Invitation Homes, a leading owner-operator of single-family rental homes, became the first U.S. Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) to both link an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) score to pricing grid and to name a Sustainable Agent & Coordinator for their sustainability-linked revolving credit facility (RCF).

BBVA Global Head of Responsible Business Antoni Ballabriga, speaking at a webinar on decarbonization and the financial sector, pointed at the sustainable mobilization of the economy as a whole as the most pressing challenge facing the financial sector, and noted that, in this effort, "it is essential to accompany clients with sustainable financial solutions and advice."

Garanti BBVA maintains its presence on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) for the sixth consecutive year. BBVA’s Turkish franchise was included in this index for the first time in 2015 and since then has effectively integrated sustainability into all of its activities and business strategies.

The Glasgow Climate Change Conference, which was planned for November, will have to wait until 2021 due to the pandemic. The global problems that existed prior to the arrival of COVID-19, which are still affecting the planet and will have an impact in the future, have not disappeared. The climate crisis cannot wait and remains a central topic on the agenda of all main actors - from governments and non-profits to the private sector. The upcoming preparatory meetings in London and Paris are proof that the organization is continuing its roadmap to remind us of just how much the planet has at risk.

BBVA USA has unveiled its second product geared towards environmental sustainability, announcing a rate discount on secured term loans for fuel-efficient commercial vehicles.

BBVA USA has launched a sustainability-focused commercial real estate loan for clients across its footprint, marking a milestone in the bank’s new 5-year strategic plan implemented in January 2020.  

Within the framework of its Global Eco-efficiency Plan 2016-2020, BBVA recently signed an agreement in Argentina to buy electricity from wind farms, a clean source of electricity that uses wind turbines to transform wind energy into electric power.

Capital Finance International has recognized BBVA as ‘Best Sustainable Bank in Spain 2020’. The London-based publication highlights the bank’s sustainability and climate change-related initiatives, as well as the way the bank defines a roadmap with opportunities and obligations linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

April 2020 marked a high point in U.S. investments in environmental, social and governance (ESG)-themed exchange-traded funds in April 2020, according to analysts with BBVA Global Market Research. Nearly $2.8 billion flowed into equity and fixed income ETFs during the month, compared to the previous record of $2.4 billion in January 2020.

BBVA’s Turkish franchise has set the goal of reducing its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 29 percent by 2025 and 71 percent by 2035. The announcement comes as part of the bank joining the Carbon Disclosure Project’s (CDP) Science-Based Targets (SBT), the most important environmental data platform in the world.

The lender and the property-owning real estate group strengthen their commitment to sustainability with the formalization of a €525 million green loan. The green loan is the conversion of a syndicated loan signed in 2016. BBVA, besides being one of the participants in the loan, is one of the sustainable coordinators who have made this change possible, to maximize the sustainability of Gmp’s office building development projects.

Ebru Dildar Edin, Vice President of Garanti BBVA, participated in a talk organized by Turkey’s Business Council for Sustainable Development (SKD Türkiye) to discuss the social challenges following the coronavirus pandemic.