Sustainability

Our climate strategy

In 2020, we set out an ambitious plan to prioritise financing and investment that supports the transition to a net zero global economy – and helps to build a thriving, resilient future for society and businesses. Our plan has three parts:

• Providing sustainable finance: We help customers cut carbon while ensuring they continue to prosper. Our ambition is to provide between USD750 billion and USD1 trillion in sustainable financing and investment by 2030 to support them as they switch to more sustainable ways of doing business
• Climate solutions and innovation: The transition to a net zero economy requires radical new solutions. We are pioneering new financing for nature-based climate solutions, and supporting promising and innovative clean technologies
• Becoming a net zero bank: We aim to reduce carbon emissions from our operations and supply chains to net zero by 2030 or sooner, and to align financed emissions from our portfolio of customers to the Paris Agreement goal of net zero by 2050 or sooner

Our climate strategy is part of our broader commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.

We believe that improving our ESG performance is crucial to our long-term success. We publish regular updates and set targets to guide how we do business. In addition to our climate ambitions, these include increasing the representation of women in senior roles, improving customer satisfaction, and upholding high standards of conduct worldwide.

The long-term incentive scorecards of our executive Directors (three-year performance period to the end of December 2023) have a 25 per cent weighting for targets aligned to our climate ambitions.

You can read further information about our approach to environmental, social and governance issues in the Who we are section on our global corporate website. Please note this is English language only.