Sustainable Development Goals

The challenge of diversity is one of the key transformation pillars for any company. In the case of BBVA, ensuring a diverse workplace, in the broadest sense of the term, allows the company to better address the needs of its diverse customer base and offer a more comprehensive service.

BBVA ‘Aprendemos juntos 2030’ is debuting the second season of ‘Desafios’ (Challenges), the program in which Generation Z talks about its challenges. In the seven years since it was launched, the global project has surpassed three billion views and has over eight million followers.

The BBVA Microfinance Foundation (BBVAMF) has won the prestigious go!ODS award for being the most innovative project in the 4th edition of the awards. Organized by the United Nations Global Compact in Spain and the Rafael del Pino Foundation, the event recognized BBVAMF among 500 submissions for its contribution to sustainable development.

Photo: María del Pino, president of the Rafael del Pino Foundation, and Clara Arpa, president of the United Nations Global Compact in Spain, present Javier M. Flores, general manager of the BBVA Microfinance Foundation, with the global award for this edition of the go!SDGs.

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.

BBVA Microfinance Foundation took part in the United Nations’ 66th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66) to share its experience in driving women’s economic and social development. During her intervention, the Foundation’s head of Sustainability and Women’s Economic Empowerment, Laura Fernández Lord, stressed that offering vulnerable women “innovative climate change adaptation measures and access technical assistance and digitalization, could increase their output up to 30% and lift 150 million people out of poverty.”

Eleanor Roosevelt, Hansa Mehta, Minerva Bernardino and Marie-Hélène Lefaucheux are names to remember on December 10th, the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The most translated text in the world proclaims, in essence, that all human beings, without distinction, are equal.

In its annual report, Intrama includes the success stories of more than 30 Spanish companies with the best practices in Diversity and Inclusion, of which BBVA is one. The global human resources consulting firm highlights the financial institution's strategic alignment of diversity policies, the communication of its projects and the training provided to its staff in this area.

“At BBVA, there are more than 100,000 people working in over 25 countries, with a wide range of different cultures, experiences, beliefs, languages, etc. This diversity is a fundamental part of the recipe to our success, and it will make us stronger to face the challenges and opportunities that lie before us,” said BBVA Chairman Carlos Torres Vila at the main event of the bank’s Diversity Days, a series of internal events being held for the second year in a row to share important advances in terms of diversity and inclusion, and to create a space for learning for all of the Group’s employees.

The BBVA Center for Financial Education and Capability has published the 2021 EduFin Position Paper, a document that represents the Center’s position on the current state of financial education at a global level. This report highlights the role of financial education and its challenges in contributing to a more sustainable society in the post-COVID recovery phase. According to the study, digitization and financial inclusion will be key. Its publication coincides with Spain’s Financial Education Day, which is celebrated on October 4 with the slogan ‘Your finances, also sustainable.’

‘Vamping’ is a term that comes from the English words ‘vampire’ (vampire, animal active at night) and ‘texting’ (sending messages) and refers to the practice, carried out mostly by teenagers, which consists in making excessive use of electronic devices such as cell phones, laptops, tablets, consoles... just before going to sleep. As a result, their rest is affected due to the reduction of the necessary hours of sleep and the effects on our body produced by the light from the screens. This phenomenon is causing many young people to suffer from early insomnia.

When Blanca Huergo knocked on BBVA’s door less than two years ago, she could never have imagined that she would wind up visiting its Madrid headquarters to meet with its top executives. This young Mathematics and Computer Science student at the University of Oxford has become a role model for many girls in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) career areas where they are scarce.

A lack of role models, stereotypes and difficulties accessing funding make it hard for women to launch businesses. Committing to work-life balance, redefining the face of entrepreneurs and new business and digital models are some key aspects that could help make entrepreneurial opportunities more egalitarian.

Every June 28, the world celebrates sexual and gender diversity, a reality that is reflected in each of the letters and symbols of the acronym that defines this community.

'Diversidad Trans. Punto de encuentro' is the manual presented by the financial institution that includes guidelines and protocols focused on supporting trans or gender transitioning employees or customers. Diversity and inclusion in general, and particularly LGBTIQ+, are intrinsic to BBVA's DNA and are part of its strategic and business objectives.

The COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated the implementation of new forms of flexible working, for which digital transformation has been key. Thousands of workers have had to convert their homes into places of work, almost overnight. This fact has affected the work life balance, and it became of utmost importance in an ecosystem where work and life were sharing space, to facilitate that balance.

The need to create a livable global environment that respects and preserves biodiversity is driving initiatives such as the European Green Deal, with an integrative vocation under the umbrella of sustainable and inclusive development. The aim of this agreement is to implement a set of measures to address climate and environmental challenges.

BBVA joins the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance, which aims to promote the extension and development of the use of green hydrogen for a carbon-neutral Europe by 2050. BBVA is the only Spanish bank in this alliance promoted by the European Commission.

In an especially hard year for the world of entrepreneurship, BBVA continued supporting entrepreneurs who create a positive social impact. The bank devoted €7.7 million euros (5 percent of the total investment in social programs) to entrepreneurship initiatives, benefitting 2.61 million entrepreneurs in 2020.

Much has been written about generational differences and how to classify the population according to someone's year of birth. The truth is that there is no exact or official definition of when a generation begins or ends and, depending on which demographers or researchers you consult, there are discrepancies about the years that comprise each generation.

The agile work methodology, new skills that teams look for or the recent inclusion of diversity as a strategic business priority are some of the ways in which BBVA’s human team has changed over the past few years. Paloma Tejada, head of Talent and Culture, Agile and Communications, at Client Solutions, BBVA, spoke about all of them in a conversation with Matthew Gamser, CEO of the SME Finance Forum.

In 2020, BBVA launched its 'COVID-19 Social Response Plan' with €35.7 million to help society at large. The funds were primarily used to purchase medical equipment to support public health systems. In addition, the bank collaborated with a variety of different organizations to support vulnerable groups, and promoted research on the disease and its side effects. More than 3.5 million people directly benefited from these initiatives, rolled out on top of another batch of measures implemented to support clients and customers, including payment deferrals and government backed loans.

Although male stereotypes dominate science and technology, the reality is that these areas are becoming increasingly diverse and more women are gradually landing technical jobs. Today, February 11, on the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, four professionals from BBVA's Engineering and Organization unit share their views on how to tear down barriers and get young girls more interested in tech jobs.

BBVA was included in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index for the fourth consecutive year. The financial institution, which has placed diversity as a business objective, improved its rating by five percentage points compared to previous editions thanks to its policies of promoting equal opportunities in professional growth and an inclusive corporate culture, according to the international agency. Garanti BBVA, the Group´s Turkish subsidiary, is also included in the index.

BBVA, which recently launched its line of business ‘Quantitative Investment Strategies’ (QIS) for institutional investors, has augmented its first QIS index family specialized in sustainability, with the incorporation of two pioneering climate indexes of its own creation: ‘Solactive BBVA Climate Action PAB Europe’ and  ‘Solactive BBVA Climate Action CTB Europe’.

The pandemic and the subsequent health protection measures have forced the bank to adapt the actions planned for its employees this Christmas. The traditional Christmas festivities have been replaced by global digital celebrations and a donation to three NGOs that provide support to the sectors of society that have suffered the most during the crisis.