06-06-2024 10:01

Nordea elected to the Steering Group of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance

Anja Hannerz, Head of Group Sustainability, and Peter Sandahl, Head of Climate and Environment, have been elected to the Steering Group of the UN-convened Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA).
Anja Hannerz and Peter Sandahl
Anja Hannerz and Peter Sandahl will begin their three-year term in July.

The Net-Zero Banking Alliance is a group of leading global banks committed to ensuring that their business models support the shift to a low-carbon economy. The Steering Group represents the alliance’s 144 banks and Nordea has now been elected by the member banks, as the only Nordic bank, to be one of the 14 banks in the Steering Group. The Steering Group operates with a Principal and a Representative from each member bank and Anja Hannerz will be the Principal and Peter Sandahl will be the Representative for Nordea. 

“In recent years we have seen a wave of new standards, initiatives and principles to help speed up and make the financial industry’s sustainability actions more ambitious, transparent and comparable. Although these standards and guidelines have a big impact on financial institutions and ultimately on corporates’ strategies and targets, the Nordic presence in the decision-making has been thin. We think it’s important to have a Nordic voice in the decision-making and hope to contribute to the acceleration towards net zero,” says Anja Hannerz.      

Peter Sandahl adds: “It’s a recognition of our position in the industry globally on climate and environmental topics. We already have a leading role in other central climate-related initiatives which is unique and connects to our ambition to be a leading actor, driving ambitions and standardisation across the industry on a global scale.”

More about NZBA

The aim of the UN-convened alliance is to reinforce and accelerate strategies that support the transition of the real economy to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. For Nordea this means engaging with our customers on their transition plans and continuing the development of product portfolios that reflect and finance a low-carbon and climate-friendly economy. The alliance urges its members to set firm intermediate targets, which Nordea has in place.

The Steering Group of the NZBA is selected by member banks and represents a diversity of geographies and business models. The Steering Group works with the chair of the NZBA to leverage the diversity of the membership, build consensus and ensure best practice can be adopted worldwide. The current members are: Amalgamated Bank, Bank of America, Banorte, BBVA, CIMB, Citi, First Abu Dhabi Bank, La Banque Postale, Lloyds Banking Group, Maybank,  MUFG, Nordea, RBC, Westpac and the United Nations.