Nordea’s first Green Bond Impact Report published

We proudly present to you Nordea’s first Green Bond Impact Report. Nordea’s Green Bond Asset Portfolio has more than doubled its volume. With our inaugural green bond, we have been able to mitigate climate change of the equivalent of more than 320,000 cars driven annually and represents electricity consumption of close to 100,000 Nordic households. 

As the largest financial services group in the Nordic region and one of the biggest banks in Europe, we are striving to make a substantial difference when it comes to sustainable finance. At Nordea, sustainable finance and investments are all about integrating the sustainability objective into all business areas. During 2017, we saw an increased interest in sustainable financing solutions which resulted in the issuance of our inaugural green bond in June 2017. 

Nordea’s verified Green Bond Asset Portfolio has grown from EUR 800 million to over EUR 1.7 billion – more than doubling the portfolio volume and next on our green agenda is to integrate sustainability into our business banking through the launch of green corporate loans in Sweden.

Our green bond issuance is based on a long-term focus on sustainability based on our experiences from more than two centuries in the banking industry. Our vision is to conduct sustainable business by enabling a connection between sustainable lending to customers and a dedicated investor base, as well as building a more sustainable credit portfolio.  

More and more companies have realized that engaging in ESG offers a competitive advantage and sustainability has in recent years shifted from a way of improving a company’s image to offering real, commercial advantages. An increasing number of investors are becoming conscious of the importance of responsible investments for the climate and the future and are calling for the companies they choose to invest in to conduct proper ESG work. As one of the biggest banks in the EU and the largest financial services group in the Nordic region, we believe we have a responsibility to do our best to contribute to a real change in the capital markets.

The majority of the Green Bond Asset Portfolio growth has been due to an increased volume in Green Buildings, especially in Sweden, which aligns with our ambition to not merely engage companies into a mutual goal of mitigating climate change, but households as well. With our inaugural green bond, we have been able to mitigate climate change by helping to avoid more than 465,000 tons of CO2 equivalents of emissions and by enabling generation of renewable energy of more than 1.300 GWh. This is the equivalent of more than 320.000 cars driven annually* and represents electricity consumption of close to 100.000 Nordic households**.

Download your copy of Nordea’s first Green Bond Impact Report (pdf, 1 MB). 

For further information

• Juho Maalahti, Green Portfolio Manager, Group Sustainable Finance, +358 400 453 120, juho.maalahti@nordea.com
• Andreas Larsson, Head of Debt IR, +46 709 70 75 55, andreas.larsson@nordea.com

* Eurostat, European Statistics on emissions for cars sold during 2017 and average kilometers travelled by car.
** IEA World Energy Balances 2017.