Making IT more sustainable: ABN AMRO shares its experiences
- Sustainable banking newsletter
ABN AMRO is working to make its IT environment more sustainable. The bank’s IT teams have developed practical ways to reduce carbon emissions from digital banking systems. Now the bank is partnering with a range of organisations to share insights and tips with other companies.
Most of ABN AMRO’s climate impact comes from the client activities it finances. But, as with many companies, the bank’s own IT environment has a significant ecological footprint within its operations. For example, the IT processes powering Internet Banking consume substantial amounts of energy. That’s why the bank is focusing on making IT more sustainable. The results speak for themselves. In the first 9 months of 2025, the bank reduced its IT-generated carbon emissions by nearly 21% compared to 2024. Wiebren van der Zee, Sustainable IT Domain Expert, and Vincent van Vliet, Sustainable IT Strategy Consultant at ABN AMRO, explain why the bank is now actively sharing what it has learned with other organisations.
Why does ABN AMRO think it’s important to share the experiences it has gained in making its IT environment more sustainable?
Vincent: “It’s clear we need to pick up the pace when it comes to sustainability and IT. Many organisations have net-zero targets that they want to meet as quickly as possible. Companies still at the beginning of their sustainability journey don’t need to reinvent the wheel when others share their knowledge. And that’s why ABN AMRO has been involved with the (Nationale Coalitie Duurzame Digitalisering, or National Coalition for Sustainable Digitalisation) from the outset. It’s a partnership of government bodies, businesses, knowledge institutions and civil society organisations, all committed to a sustainable digital transition.”
Can you explain how you share knowledge?
Wiebren: “Together with the NCDD and other partners, we developed the (SIIA) specifically for this purpose. The tool provides practical guidance and detailed background information to help others get started on making their IT environments more sustainable. The assessment draws in part on the experiences of municipalities and businesses. It helps organisations implement change by offering effective measures and clearing major obstacles. The platform also allows ABN AMRO to learn from other organisations’ initiatives in terms of IT and sustainability.”
What are some examples of insights other organisations can learn from?
Vincent: “We try to make it as easy as possible for our IT teams to factor sustainability into the decisions they make every day. We provide colleagues with educational materials and dashboards tracking energy use and carbon emissions, practical tips for reducing environmental impact, and even rewards for meeting sustainability goals. And it’s paying off. We see that teams are more focused now on how much energy their applications consume.”
Wiebren: “Many of the IT systems we run operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. If energy efficiency isn’t considered during the build process, those inefficiencies will persist for years. But when efficiency is built into the process from the start, you save both on emissions and on costs. We also review existing systems to identify opportunities to improve or modernise them for better energy efficiency.”
What challenges does the bank itself still face?
Vincent: “We still sometimes lack sufficient supply chain data to target energy reduction effectively. But as more stakeholders ask their suppliers for these data, we’re starting to see slow improvement in this area.”
Wiebren: “Artificial intelligence (AI) also requires a lot of energy to operate and is changing the way we work. It’s important that we monitor the effects of this new technology closely. Here, too, we can adopt effective solutions much faster if we collaborate with other organisations.”