NZBA commitment
In April 2021 Triodos Bank, a frontrunner in sustainable finance for more than 40 years, was one of the first banks to join the NZBA convened by the United Nations. As part of this commitment, Triodos Bank needs to give an update on the progress it has made meeting the NZBA requirements for its loans and funds and disclose its intermediate targets for 2030.
Net zero - What does it actually mean?
As one to zero
Triodos Bank’s commitment to the NZBA is part of its ambition to become net-zero by 2035 covering 100% of our lending and funds’ investments portfolios. Triodos Bank intends to greatly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of all its loans and funds’ investments, using a science-based targets approach.
The remaining emissions will be balanced or ‘inset’ by investing considerably in nature projects that remove greenhouse gases from the air. With this target, Triodos Bank’s portfolio of loans and funds’ investments will be aligned with a maximum global temperature rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The transition to the net zero society must be inclusive; it is about getting the real change in society. We can’t just reduce emissions, only to find out that we’ve used all our natural resources to get there. We can’t stop using fossil fuels, only to find out we’ve exploited people to get there. We need holistic solutions and collaboration with all stakeholders. We can only get to zero as one.
Intermediate target 2030
Triodos Bank has analysed its loan and investment portfolio by sector to look at how decarbonisation can be achieved. To reach its goal, Triodos Bank set an intermediate target to reduce net emissions by 32% to 232 ktonne CO2e in 2030 across the entire loans and funds’ investments portfolios. In a context of portfolio growth, Triodos Bank expects net absolute emissions to be relatively stable until 2025 and to start declining from then onwards, as result of reduction efforts diminishing the carbon intensity of portfolios and sequestration investments to neutralise remaining emissions.
The reported emissions and (intermediate) target setting are in accordance with current insights, measurements and monitoring methods and plausible projections.
Going forward
Triodos Bank will work on getting its net-zero plans reviewed by its external auditor; the bank is in process of submitting its targets for validation by the Science Based Targets initiative. Triodos Bank will review its ambition in 2025 to validate its approach and make any necessary changes to its plans if needed.