Mission 2030: Making real estate more sustainable

What’s the problem? Homes and offices in the Netherlands produce 40% of the country’s total carbon emissions

It's simple: we are all producing too much CO2. This enormous volume of carbon emissions contributes to global warming. To limit the rise in global temperatures, we need to drastically reduce carbon emissions. That's why world leaders at the Paris Climate Change Conference in 2015 agreed to keep global warming to under 2° Celsius by 2030.

In the Netherlands, buildings are responsible for 40% of the country's total carbon emissions. ABN AMRO finances more than 10% of the country's total built environment, so we have the power to make a significant impact. Want to find out how we are working to reduce carbon emissions?

Our mission: To ensure that all homes and offices we help finance have an average energy label A by 2030.

CO2, energy label A and a bank? A large part of the Netherlands' carbon emissions are produced by the use of natural gas to heat homes and offices and by the use of electricity.

The energy label shows how energy-efficient a building is compared with similar buildings. There are different categories, ranging from A (ultra-efficient) to G (very inefficient). An energy-efficient home is well insulated, has double glazing or even has solar panels. The more energy-efficient your building is, the less carbon it emits.

ABN AMRO finances more than 10% of the total built environment in the Netherlands. Raising all of these buildings to an average energy label A would result in an enormous reduction in carbon emissions. Want to know how much?

What are we doing at ABN AMRO?

We are doing our part, too, of course. We will make sure that all of the real estate we use ourselves – meaning our own buildings and the buildings we rent – has energy label A by 2023. How? By making these buildings more sustainable every year, whenever anything needs to be replaced. We improved the sustainability of eight buildings in 2017.

Circl

A circular pavilion in the Zuidas business district of Amsterdam – a place to debate, share knowledge, learn, network, experiment and much more.

HAUT

HAUT will be the tallest residential building in the Netherlands – unique in terms of architecture and sustainability.

ABN AMRO Alkmaar branch

The first energy-neutral bank branch in the Netherlands.

Do the Energy Saving Check

See how energy-efficient your home is – and what you can do to make it more sustainable.

Sustainable mortgage

See if you can get a sustainability discount on your mortgage.

Sustainable advice

Are you a homeowner? Get advice on how to make your home more sustainable.

Make an appointment

Business owner?

Use the Sustainable Investment Tool to see how sustainable your real estate is.

What we will achieve if we are successful What is 2 million tonnes? It is equivalent to the annual carbon emissions produced by around 800,000 cars!

The buildings in the Netherlands that ABN AMRO finances produce around 6 million tonnes of CO2 a year. By making these homes and offices more sustainable, we and our clients will gradually reduce carbon emissions – and may even bring this figure down to around 4 million tonnes a year. That's a reduction of around 2 million tonnes, which is equivalent to the annual carbon emissions produced by around 800,000 cars! Together with our clients, we can make a difference.