According to the editorial director of the magazine, Joseph Giarraputo, “The pandemic and the disruptions suffered in the energy sector have highlighted the risks of climate change at a time when new technological innovations offer new solutions to build a sustainable future for everybody”. And he adds; “These awards recognize financial entities that stand out not only for their efforts to ensure adequate financing for all the initiatives that have arisen in this field, but also for their creativity when facing these global challenges.”
CaixaBank, committed to sustainable financing
The award for ‘Best Bank in Sustainable Financing in Spain 2022’ is recognition of CaixaBank in a year in which the entity has reaffirmed its commitment to sustainable financing.
In 2021, the bank mobilized 31,375 million euros in sustainable financing, coming from both loans and sustainable bonds, which represented an increase of 150% in volume compared to the previous year.
In the section on sustainable loans, the entity broke its all-time record for sustainable loans, with 11,595 million euros, and ranked 6th in Europe for green and sustainable loans in the League Tables Top Tier by volume, according to Refinitiv, and it was the best placed Spanish bank in this classification.
It was also a historic year for MicroBank, CaixaBank’s social bank, which ended 2021 with a record figure both in terms of the number of operations carried out and the volume of financing, with special emphasis on financing families with difficulties in accessing credit.
In this way, MicroBank allocated a total of 953 million euros to financing with a social impact in 2021, which represents an increase of 5.8% compared to the previous year; and granted 107,222 loans, 1.74% compared to 2020.
In the field of sustainable bond issues, the entity mobilized 19,780 million euros during 2021, 164% more than the previous year. In this area, CaixaBank’s leadership in terms of its own bonds should be highlighted, with the issuance of four bonds in green or social format for a value of 3,500 million euros, in addition to the three launched in 2019 and 2020, and the one launched in 2022. In this way, CaixaBank is the European bank with the largest volume of its own ESG bond issues in euros, for a total of around 7,500 million euros.
Benchmark in sustainability in Europe
In its new strategic plan, CaixaBank has set itself the priority of consolidating itself as a benchmark in sustainability in Europe, supporting the energy transition of companies and individuals. For this reason, CaixaBank wants to mobilize 64,000 million euros in sustainable financing in the 2022-2024 period, through the promotion of various initiatives focused on the offer of products, ESG advice, awareness and training.
The initiatives in this area will focus on promoting the energy transition of companies and society as a whole, through, among others, the development of solutions for individuals with a focus on mobility and sustainable housing, and the promotion of investments with ESG criteria. .
In addition, the plan sets the objective of leading the positive social impact and favoring financial inclusion, promoting microfinance solutions, mainly through MicroBank, and maintaining its commitment to the rural world, adapting the service channels to the needs of the different groups Of customers.
In the case of MicroBank, the objectives for 2024 entail reaching 3,500 million euros in new social financing concessions, which is 36% more than what was established in the 2019-2021 period, and being able to reach more than 413,300 beneficiaries of microcredits.
Other international recognitions
This award is a continuation of a trajectory of international recognition for CaixaBank’s commitment to sustainable financing. In the first edition of the awards ‘Sustainable Finance Awards’ of the magazine Global Finance, CaixaBank was chosen ‘Leader in social bonds in Western Europe 2021’. Furthermore, the magazine Environmental Finance has awarded the entity’s bond issues with the prizes for “Social Bond of the Year in the Banking Sector 2020” and “Green Bond of the Year in the Banking Sector 2021”.
–
