Handelsbanken is the first bank to join the Exponential Roadmap Initiative, which drives exponential transformation to halve emissions by 2030.
Shifting finance to accelerate climate solutions and to funding companies that are transitioning to align with the Paris Agreement, while terminating fossil investments, is key to delivering on the Paris Agreement. For that, $2.4 trillion per year are needed until 2030, independent experts have calculated.
Catharina Belfrage Sahlstrand, Head of Sustainability, Handelsbanken:
Handelsbanken’s climate target, net zero emissions by 2040, aims to help our customers and the companies we invest in – and ultimately ourselves – to remain resilient in the future. The path to net zero emissions is neither straight nor easy and requires a variety of initiatives and activities where financing and investments for our customers are key, as well as advisory services, detailed in our Climate Transition Plan. We also see immense value in partnerships, and through our membership in the Exponential Roadmap, we have the opportunity to both learn from and contribute to a network of actors dedicated to halving emissions by 2030 and achieving global net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest.
Johan Falk, CEO and Co-founder, Exponential Roadmap Initiative:
Handelsbanken has the opportunity to lead the way on accelerating the real estate value chain towards net zero through transition funding and accelerating the funding for climate solutions, which is required for innovation and breakthroughs in this sector. Moreover, Handelsbanken is setting an example for other banks as it does not give new loans for companies engaging in expanded extraction of fossil fuels.
Prior to Handelsbanken’s joining the initiative, the two organisations collaborated on the Greening Cash Action Guide, a “how to” for companies seeking to address the emissions indirectly financed by corporate cash held in banks.
As part of the collaboration, Handelsbanken will also support the SME Climate Hub Nordics, a recently launched initiative designed to mobilise small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the Nordic countries to take decisive climate action. The SME Climate Hub is a platform co-founded and operated in partnership with the We Mean Business Coalition, Exponential Roadmap Initiative and the Race to Zero campaign led by the High-Level Climate Champions, in collaboration with Normative.
Photo by Handelsbanken.
