Based on the European climate agreement and the guidelines of the European Central Bank, banks are gradually moving towards a greener product portfolio. According to SEB, this desire was also clearly expressed by the bank’s investors who purchased bonds to finance green products. To respond to the European Union’s climate agreement, SEB has set itself the goal of making all its operations carbon neutral by 2045.
This also applies to business loans. Projects with a greater positive impact on sustainability will receive better loan conditions. However, those who do not want to deal with sustainability may sooner or later find that the bank will no longer grant them the loan. Peep Jalakas, head of corporate banking at SEB, and Jelena Torim, sustainability consultant for large companies, spoke with Business Genius.
In recent years, several green products have been added to the portfolio of all major banks and we increasingly hear about large investments made with the support of green credits, for example in energy production, logistics and real estate. So do banks have much power to support climate goals?
Peep Jalakas (PJ): Sustainability-related loans are more attractive and relevant today than, for example, five years ago. Today no one doubts that the climate is warming and that to respect the Paris climate agreement all economic subjects must contribute. This requires a significant amount of capital and this is where the important role of the bank comes into play. It seems to me that there is a social agreement to achieve climate goals and the entire market has moved in the direction of customers being interested in green loans.
It is also clear that bank owners and investors expect SEB as a bank to support the movement towards the Paris climate accords. The bank’s main influence on society depends on the projects we finance. You can choose between financing oil shale, coal and other polluting technologies or green energy, highly energy-efficient properties, and investments to support the circular economy. The history of SEB is almost 170 years long. In order to continue operating 170 years into the future, we must make choices today, and green loans are one way to support social transformation.
This story is for PRO subscribers.
Introductory price!
PRO order
- Unlimited access to DigiPRO, E-commerce, RMP, Rikka Geenius and Ärigenius articles.
- Access to all articles from seven other Genius portals.
- The right to read articles from Autoleht, Autoleht Ekstra and Digi magazines online.
- Discounted entry to Genius events.
- Printed Digi magazine available upon request.
€26.99 €3 / main
You pay €3 for the first month. After the trial period the subscription continues at the price of €26.99 per month. You can use the discounted offer once. This is an automatically renewing lifetime subscription that you can cancel at any time. If you use mobile payment to place your order, a service fee of €0.32 will be added to the price.
Do you want to pay by invoice, place a wholesale order or are you looking for a different order? You can find all ordering options here.
2024-01-19 14:00:00
banks-direct-entrepreneurs-to-make-environmentally-friendly-investments-through-green-loans-those-who-dont-want-to-deal-with-sustainability-could-sooner-or-later-lose-their-loans