AIB

AIB is putting sustainability at the heart of strategy

Mary Whitelaw, AIB’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Strategy and Sustainability, explains the steps the bank is taking in the battle against climate change

he 26th UN Climate Change

TConference of the Parties (COP26) takes place in Glasgow in November. As countries begin to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, these crucial talks provide an historic opportunity to agree key measures to tackle climate change.

As Ireland’s largest fi nancial services provider AIB has a duty to our customers, our country and the wider global community in the fi ght against climate change. In doing our part to help achieve this, we have already put sustainability at the heart of our strategy. We are committed to supporting the transition to a lowcarbon economy, reducing our own carbon footprint and helping our customers to do the same.

TIME FOR ACTION In October we will host our fourth annual Sustainability Conference where the theme ‘Beating the Climate Deadline’ will be more pertinent than ever given the recent UN report showing that the earth’s average temperature will rise 1.5 degrees above preindustrial levels by 2030, a decade earlier than projected–unless we take action.

At AIB, we are already taking action. We were the fi rst Irish bank to pledge to operate as carbon neutral by 2030, using a ‘net zero’ approach. That means cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible—through Mary Whitelaw, Director of Corporate Affairs, Strategy and Sustainability, AIB.

elimination of carbon rather than off setting it. We also committed to 70% of all new lending being classifi ed as green or transitional by 2030 as we aim to play a signifi cant role in helping the Government and European Union meet their carbon reduction targets.

LOW CARBON FUTURE Our progress is recognised externally, including by ratings agency Sustainalytics which ranked us in the top ten per cent of more than 1,000 banks globally with a low risk Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) score of 14.5. This benchmarks us very favourably compared to our peer group and demonstrates AIB’s signifi cant progress in advancing the sustainability agenda.

So far this year we have lent €913m to support green projects, up from €479m

WE WERE THE FIRST IRISH BANK TO PLEDGE TO OPERATE AS CARBON NEUTRAL BY 2030, USING A ‘NET ZERO’ APPROACH. THAT MEANS CUTTING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS TO AS CLOSE TO ZERO AS POSSIBLE.

in the same period last year, ensuring a greener tomorrow by backing those who are building it today. Every day we are working hard to support our customers in their transition to a low carbon future, with green lending options available to mortgage borrowers and personal customers, large corporates and SMEs.

Reducing food waste has been recognised as the single biggest individual solution to reverse the eff ects of climate change. This is why our longstanding partnership with social enterprise FoodCloud is so important to us and why we have extended it by another three years.

We’re honoured that our work to date has been recognised by Chambers Ireland who have shortlisted the bank in a number of categories in the Sustainable Business Impact Awards.

Together, these AIB initiatives can help play a role in reducing the amount of harmful greenhouse gas emissions released in to the atmosphere. We have made a good start, but we recognise there is a lot more to do given the scale of this truly global challenge.