In supporting the fight against climate change and the green transition, Santander continues to make progress on its goal to reach net zero carbon emissions group-wide by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement. According to Infralogic’s ranking, Group ended the first half of the year as the world’s leader in renewable energy finance, with over 2.4 billion euros in 33 funding transactions and a worldwide market share of 6.4%. In the past decade, Santander has been a leading bank in renewable energy finance, figuring among the top three in the world in number of transactions and the top five in funding volume.
The greenfield projects Santander financed or advised in 2021 had an installed capacity of 13,604 megawatts and will cut 251 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. They produce enough electricity to power 9.2 million homes in a year. Furthermore, its brownfield projects for expanding or improving renewable energy had an installed capacity of 1,776 megawatts.
New targets
Santander's latest Climate Finance Report outlines three new interim targets to decarbonize its portfolios by 2030: -29% absolute emissions financed in the energy sector; and -33% emissions intensity in aviation sector and -32% emissions intensity in the steel sector. The targets add to those the Group had announced in February 2021, when it said it would end financing for electricity generating customers if 10% of their revenues relied on thermal coal; and eliminate exposure to coal mining worldwide. At the start of the year, the Group also released its target of -46% emissions financed in the electric power sector.
Santander will release its interim targets to decarbonize the other more carbon-intensive portfolios it has — property, auto manufacturing, auto lending, cement, agriculture and other sub-sectors — in keeping with the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative’s (UNEP FI) Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), of which Santander is a founder member.
To further its aim, Santander is focused on aiding its customers go green. To advise customers and assist them with their own decarbonization, the Group’s engagement with them has been constant.
Santander is also making inroads with creating and distributing products and services that will help retail customers make the green transition. It has been promoting green mortgages, energy renovation for homes and buildings, and financing for electric vehicles and non-polluting farming equipment, among others.
To coordinate its investment and retail banking initiatives, Santander has formed a Global Green Finance Team, which kicked off in the first half of the year and will help find synergy between Group initiatives.
Santander remains committed to raising EUR 220 billion in green finance between 2019 and 2030, with an interim target of EUR 120 billion by 2025. According to the Group's Climate Finance Report, Santander Corporate & Investment Banking (SCIB) had already invested or facilitated EUR 74.4 billion as of June 2022.
Santander has been carbon-neutral in its own operations since 2020. It aims to get all its electricity from renewable sources by 2025. Its 2022-25 efficiency plan aims to reduce its electricity consumption by 2.6% and its absolute CO2 emissions by 35.4%.
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