BBVA has raised its sustainable lending target to €700 billion (approximately $732.7 billion) over the next five years. The Spanish bank, which launched a global finance unit focused on clean technologies and innovation last year, had previously set a target of €300 billion for the period 2018–2025.
Javier Rodriguez Soler, BBVA’s Global Head of Sustainability and Corporate and Investment Banking, said, “Business opportunity in the second part of the decade will be driven by solid investment in infrastructure and by the maturity of certain new clean technologies, which will make them profitable.” He added that robust investment in infrastructure and advancing clean technologies will be key to realising these ambitions.
The move comes amid increasing public pressure for decisive climate action, prompting governments and corporations to commit to significant emissions reductions. In response, banks have pledged to increase their financing for cleaner energy initiatives while scaling back support for polluting industries.
Nevertheless, environmental campaigners have warned that the shifting political climate—exemplified by the policies of the new US President, Donald Trump—might undermine these sustainability pledges. This concern was echoed last week when HSBC (HSBA.L) delayed its target for achieving net-zero emissions across its business by 20 years, now aiming for 2050, due to the sluggish pace of economic change.
BBVA, which also aspires to reach net-zero emissions by mid-century, continues to finance coal projects but has committed to ceasing such financing by 2030 in developed countries and by 2040 in the rest of the world.
