BBVA Joins MCSC, Bringing Perspectives from Financial Services Industry
January 12, 2022
Full press release from BBVA.
BBVA has joined the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium (MCSC) in order to accelerate the development of large-scale solutions to fight climate change. BBVA is currently the only bank in the world in this alliance, which includes 15 leading companies from different sectors, working together with MIT academic research teams. The members of the consortium will share processes and strategies for environmental innovation.
“At BBVA, we are convinced that, apart from financing and accompanying our clients in their transition towards decarbonization, innovation is key. To do so, we must dedicate resources and apply innovation efforts to the fight against climate change. In the coming years, technology applied to decarbonization processes will pave the way for reaching the goal of being neutral in emissions by 2050,” said BBVA’s Global Head of Sustainability, Javier Rodríguez Soler, who is member of the MCSC Impact Advisory Board (IAB).
BBVA has set intermediate targets to decarbonize its portfolio in four CO2-intensive industries. Following its commitment in March to stop financing coal-related companies by 2030 in developed countries and by 2040 for the rest, the bank now announces that between 2020 and 2030 it will reduce the carbon intensity in its loan portfolio by 52 percent in electricity generation; 46% in automobile manufacturing; 23% in steel production; and 17% in cement production. These sectors, together with coal, account for 60 percent of global CO2 emissions¹. BBVA will focus on accompanying its clients with financing, advice and innovation solutions as part of a global decarbonization effort.
“The MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium is excited to welcome BBVA and harness their perspectives from the financial services industry,” said Jeremy Gregory, Executive Director of the MCSC. “BBVA is joining at an exciting time as we approach our one-year mark since launching in early 2021 and are now building off our initial themes into expanded activities for scaling climate and sustainability solutions,” he concluded.