Carbon reduction high on the agenda

This morning, ABN AMRO’s director of Group Sustainability Richard Kooloos received an appeal from ‘climate CEOs’ Leander Wolters and Anne Geertjes of Milieudefensie/Friends of the Earth Netherlands. The climate CEOs are asking large companies to state how they plan to reduce their carbon emissions by at least 45% by 2030. Richard Kooloos answered that ABN AMRO firmly supports the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and explained what the bank is doing to achieve this goal together with its clients.

As a large organisation, ABN AMRO has its own carbon footprint. Our ambition is to reduce carbon emissions by 80% in 2025 compared with the level of 2015. This is well within the limit of the 1.5-degree goal. The biggest impact of a systemic bank like ABN AMRO is caused by lending and investment services. Clients use our loans for various purposes, such as to make investments or buy a home. We include emissions generated by these activities when calculating our total emissions, as these are responsible for 99% of this figure. That’s why our strategy is aimed at supporting our clients in their transition to sustainability.

Setting a good example

We strive to set a good example with our own organisation. We have improved the sustainability of our offices and we only work with green energy and electric lease cars. And we compensate the remaining emissions through local Dutch sustainability projects.

Making real estate energy-efficient together with clients

As for supporting our clients in reducing their footprint, the most carbon emissions by far are related to our portfolio of mortgages and commercial real estate. Having clients work together with the bank to make their homes and offices more energy-efficient will greatly reduce the use of fossil fuels and, consequently, carbon emissions. At ABN AMRO, we aim to attain an average energy label A for all residential and commercial properties we finance by 2030. We cannot do this alone – collaboration with our clients and the government is essential. We support homeowners and businesses by advising them on how to make their buildings more energy-efficient, by offering interest rate discounts on mortgages and by connecting clients with specialist suppliers.

Other sectors

In addition to real estate, ABN AMRO also finances other sectors, such as shipping. Here, too, we focus on reducing greenhouse gases. We do this under the flag of the Poseidon Principles, an initiative of the United Nations. The shipping industry must also contribute to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, so we are working with our clients to make their ships more sustainable.

The same goes for our energy portfolio, where our goal is to double the share of sustainable energy (to 45%) in 2024 compared with 2020. We are doing this by financing wind and solar energy, and by reducing our lending to oil and gas companies. In this area, we are using the ‘Net Zero by 2050’ roadmap set out by the International Energy Agency.

Own investments

Besides lending, ABN AMRO also invests its own capital in companies that play, or could play, an important role in the energy transition. We have set up a 425 million euro Sustainable Impact Fund aimed at helping these companies grow.

Sustainable investments the primary focus

We have made sustainable investment the primary focus of our investment services since 2018. As a result, we have seen explosive growth in sustainable investment. This is supplemented by impact investment, which emphasises the positive impact of our clients’ money.

More information

More information on ABN AMRO’s approach is provided in the report How far is ABN AMRO along the road to Paris? - ABN AMRO Bank.