CaixaBank has achieved the highest recognition given by CDP as a leading company in sustainability, environmental management and climate change. The bank has been included in the 2021 edition of the A List, the global disclosure system’s best possible classification. The A List 2021 on climate change comprises 200 leading global companies from all sectors, out of the nearly 12,000 companies assessed by CDP. CaixaBank is the only Spanish bank to achieve this score.
This assessment acknowledges CaixaBank for its actions aimed at cutting emissions, mitigating climate risks and developing a low-carbon economy, based on data reported by the bank through CDP's 2021 climate change questionnaire. CaixaBank is one of the companies with a strong commitment and high performance to combat climate change among all the companies assessed by CDP.
CDP, an independent international non-profit organisation, is the main global platform for gathering information and analysis on climate and environmental performance from both private companies and public administrations in their endeavour for the transition to a sustainable economy through the measurement and management of the climate-based impact of their actions and the reduction of their CO2 emissions. In addition to analysing companies by rating them from A (highest commitment and better performance) to D (lowest rating) on the basis of their climate change management, CDP provides access to this information to more than 590 institutional investors managing over USD 110 trillion.
In recent years, CDP's scores have become a benchmark tool for investors and stakeholders to assess business actions developed to mitigate climate change and determine their level of preparedness for changes required by the stakeholders themselves, regulators and financial markets.
Leadership from commitment to sustainability
For the eighth consecutive year, CaixaBank remains on the CDP ranking in the Leadership category and has become part of the 2021 A List, being one of the companies that has achieved the highest rating in the climate change analysis questionnaire. The integration of sustainability into the bank’s business model and its decision-making processes are among the factors that contributed to CaixaBank’s ranking. Currently, CaixaBank has a Sustainability Committee, under the direction of the Steering Committee, which is responsible for monitoring the sustainability strategy and practices, and therefore, the bank's climate and environmental performance, which is one of the core pillars of its Socially Responsible Banking Plan.
On climate commitment, CaixaBank is a founding member of the Net Zero Banking Alliance, a commitment by the banking sector to achieving zero net emissions by 2050, in line with the 1.5°C target and to establishing, in the coming months, a decarbonisation target of the most polluting portfolio for 2030, aligned with the Paris Agreement and the momentum of which was fundamental in the recent COP26. It follows the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) to boost measures taken in response to climate-related financial risks and the quality of climate information. Furthermore, CaixaBank is a member of the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), which provides a framework for measuring financed emissions and which will involve the bank on the ‘Financial Institutions Taking Action’ list, which identifies entities that have committed to measuring and disseminating their emissions funded by the Global Standard of PCAF.
Since 2018, CaixaBank has been a member of UNEP FL, which is a partnership between the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the global financial sector to mobilise private sector funding for sustainable development. In 2019, it joined the Collective Commitment to Climate Action (CCCA), which drives the commitment that all the signatories of the Principles for Responsible Banking have made to align their business strategy with the Paris Agreement's temperature goals.
In addition to obtaining the CDP’s best score, for the tenth consecutive year CaixaBank remains on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) as one of the world's most sustainable banks, and has been ranked as Spain's best bank in the rating of environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk by the analyst Sustanalytics, achieving an overall improvement of 16%, rising 11 places in the overall ranking to 30th in a global ranking of 406 banks analysed.
