For the first time, CaixaBank has won five categories in the Sustainable Finance Awards, organised by the American magazine Global Finance, making it the bank to receive the most awards in the region of Western Europe and ratifying it as a benchmark for sustainability and giving back to the community.
This year, the bank stood out, on a global and regional level, for supporting the community, as the ‘World's Best Bank for Sustaining Communities 2024’ and also the 'Best Bank for Sustaining Communities in Western Europe 2024', reflected in its contribution to the Spanish economy, which amounted to 1.16% of the country's GDP in 2023, up 16 basis points in comparison with 2022. In total, the company recorded a total direct and indirect contribution of €16.89 billion in 2023 (+26.8% in comparison with 2022).
The publication highlighted CaixaBank's leadership in sustainable financing on the European continent, naming it 'Best Bank for Sustainable Finance in Western Europe 2024' and 'Best Bank for ESG-Related Loans in Western Europe 2024'. The awards are a reflection of CaixaBank's commitment to sustainable financing at corporate level and via MicroBank.
As regards being the 'Best Bank for Social Bonds in Western Europe 2024', the magazine acknowledges the bank's proactivity when it comes to issuing social bonds, with 5 bonds issued as of 2019 to a total amount of €5 billion.
Global Finance's Sustainable Finance Awards, now in their fourth year, acknowledge leading entities in sustainable financing that drive initiatives aimed at mitigating the detrimental impacts of climate change and at helping to build a more sustainable future for humanity.
The winners of the awards were chosen by the editors of the magazine from the applications submitted and subsequent to independent research that analysed both governance policies and the entities' goals in relation to environmental, sustainable, and social financing, as well as the progress recorded in these areas during 2023.
“Climate change concerns, regulations and increasing investor awareness have ensured growing demand for sustainable investments,” said Global Finance founder and editorial director Joseph Giarraputo. “Innovations in clean technologies, green finance instruments, and data analytics are also making sustainable finance more attractive and accessible, creating new market opportunities for banks.”
Firm commitment to the community and social initiatives
The 'World's Best Bank for Sustaining Communities 2024’ and ‘Best Bank for Sustaining Communities in Western Europe 2024’ awards reflect the entity's social vocation, seen in its contribution to the Spanish and Portuguese economy, its commitment to financial inclusion, support for groups in vulnerable situations, training and promoting entrepreneurship and more.
In this last area, CaixaBank has MicroBank, its social bank and a point of reference for microcredits in Europe. MicroBank ended 2023 with 144,473 financing transactions arranged, with a social impact to the value of €1.38 billion, figures that are up 44% and 36.2%, respectively.
As regards providing support for groups in vulnerable situations, the bank aids the work of social entities by providing them with services adapted to their needs and making a platform available to them, free of charge, where they can collect donations for their causes, channeling more than €20 million a year to the third sector. And, in relation to its vocation for inclusive banking that is accessible to all, the bank has developed products such as its Braille Pack, developed with the O.N.C.E. Foundation, and tactile Android POS terminals and TalkBack, which makes everyday living easier for people with visual disabilities.
In addition, the CaixaBank volunteering programme is one of the largest volunteering initiatives in Spain. In 2023, a total of 17,240 CaixaBank volunteers from all around Spain participated in 25,137 solidarity activities, benefitting 372,669 people. The volunteers had the collaboration and participation of 2,238 social entities from throughout the country.
European leaders in sustainable financing
The 'Best Bank for Sustainable Finance in Western Europe 2024' and 'Best Bank for ESG-Related Loans in Western Europe 2024' awards reward the bank's commitment to sustainable financing. In 2023, the bank mobilised €27.23 billion, €25.09 billion of which went to sustainable financing and 2.13 billion to sustainable intermediation. Since 2022, the figure amounts to €50.81 billion, nearly 80% of the cumulative goal of €64 billion set in the Strategic Plan for 2022-2024.
According to the ranking by Refinitiv LSEG, CaixaBank was the leading company in EMEA for sustainable financing in 2023, topping this ranking for the first time in its history.
Lastly, the ‘Best Bank for Social Bonds in Western Europe 2024’ award highlights the active work of the bank in issuing social bonds, accumulating a total of five bonds since 2019, amounting to a total of €5 billion.
International accolades for its sustainability and social commitment
Global Finance's Sustainable Finance Awards 2024 are added to other accolades from previous years, such as ‘World's Best Bank for ESG-Related Loans 2023’, ‘Best Bank for Sustaining Communities in Western Europe 2023’, ‘Best Bank for Sustainable Finance in Spain 2022’ and ‘Best Bank for Social Bonds in Western Europe 2021’.
In 2023, the British magazine Euromoney chose CaixaBank as ‘Best Bank for Sustainability in Spain 2023’ and ‘Best Bank for Corporate Accountability in Spain 2023’.
