Garanti BBVA announces its interim targets for decarbonization
Garanti BBVA announced its intermediate decarbonization targets for 2030 in line with the Net-Zero Banking Alliance commitments. The bank became the first signatory from Türkiye to join the Net-Zero Banking Alliance in 2021, pledging to move its lending and investment portfolio to net zero emissions by 2050. Garanti BBVA, also the first bank in Türkiye to commit to phasing out coal, announced in 2021 that it would not finance new investments in coal-fired power plants and mines and would exit the sector completely by 2040 at the latest by eliminating the risk associated with coal activities in its portfolio. Garanti BBVA took a step further with its 2022 coal phase-out commitment, becoming the first bank in Turkey to announce interim decarbonization targets for other carbon-intensive sectors in line with the PACTA (Paris Agreement Capital Transition Assessment) methodology.
The Bank maintains its commitment to addressing climate change by setting current risk-weighted emission intensities for the power, automotive, steel and cement sectors for 2022 and reduction targets for these sectors by 2030. Long-term vision, focused on decision making, robust, extensive coverage, actionable and sector-specific principles were taken into account when setting the objectives. The bank has made sustainability one of its strategic priorities and aims to accompany its customers in the transition to a more sustainable future, recognizing the role and responsibility of financial institutions on the path to sustainable transformation.
General Director of Garanti BBVA, Recep Baştuğ, shared his views on the subject, saying, “At Garanti BBVA, we are aware that the financial sector has an important role to play in the fight against the climate crisis. For more than 17 years, we have been designing our activities with sustainability in mind and taking important steps to combat climate change. In this context, we were the first bank in Türkiye to commit to phasing out coal and we joined the United Nations Net-Zero Banking Alliance. We are continuing our work to achieve our 2050 pledge. To this end, we are reviewing the data we have, regularly analyzing and monitoring where we are with our decarbonization target and how far we are from the target we want to achieve. To achieve the net zero target we have committed to, we have planned our 2030 intermediate targets for carbon-intensive sectors. With the targets we set as part of the PACTA methodology, we track our customers' progress in their decarbonization processes and offer them financial support for their investments in new technologies and production methods along the way. Our main objectives are to reduce transition risks in the loan portfolio by increasing risk weighting for clients aligned with decarbonization targets, while fulfilling our commitment to transparency in environmental and social performance disclosure.”
Emission reduction targets for carbon-intensive sectors
Note: It is important to emphasize that the baseline of these metrics may change, since the sources of information used and the methodology are constantly changing
Note: The 2030 targets for carbon-intensive sectors can be accessed via Garanti BBVA's 2022 Integrated Annual Report or the Garanti BBVA Investor Relations website.