Nordea Bank : takes a clear position on Climate Change

To express our view and actions related to Climate Change, Nordea has developed a position statement on Climate Change.

Sustainable finance is about taking responsibility for the impact we as a company have on communities and the environment and addressing relevant social and environmental risk in our business operations and activities. Climate Change is one sustainability risk that poses serious risks to the global economy and will have an impact across many economic sectors. Recent emissions of greenhouse gases are the highest ever, driven by for example economic and population growth, by energy use and lifestyle.

As the largest bank in the Nordics, we have a huge responsibility and a big opportunity to make a difference - as we have the ability to facilitate capital allocation that can help the transition to a low-carbon economy. To formalise our view and actions related to climate change Nordea has developed a position statement on climate change.

Snorre Storset, Head of Wealth Management and chairman of the Sustainability Committee, and Ylva Hannestad, Group Sustainable Finance give their views on why a position statement is needed now.

Why a Nordea Position Statement on Climate Change and how will it affect our organisation?

'In order to address Climate Change issues related to our business and offerings in a consistent manner we now have a Climate Change Position Statement. The position statement describes how we address climate issues across the Nordea Group and covers all business areas,' explains Snorre Storset.

'Climate change poses both risks and opportunities for us as a business. The purpose of the statement is to formalise how we address this from a risk management perspective. In our fund offering, for example, we have decided not to invest in companies with large and sustained exposure to thermal coal mining. The position statement also guides us in how we can develop financial products, such as sustainable bonds or green loans, products that can support our customers to transform to a low-carbon economy,' says Ylva Hannestad.

What does this mean for Nordea?

'To meet the challenges of climate change, experts such as the UN believe that around 80 per cent of the financing needs to come from the private sector. We have an important role to play here, both in terms of developing and providing green financial products and how we engage and guide our customers to allocate their capital to green solutions,' says Snorre Storset.

Nordea Position Statement on Climate Change (pdf, 99 KB)