The bank has received the highest score on the A List issued by environmental not-for-profit CDP in recognition of its leadership, transparency and action against climate change. 

Banco Santander has featured on the CDP’s 2022 A List for climate change for its commitment to sustainability and action against climate change. This accolade recognizes the bank’s transparency and action on climate change worldwide based on its disclosures in the CDP’s 2022 climate change questionnaire, with a higher score than in 2021 (A-). 

Santander is one of 280 A-listed companies, out of some 15,000 whose environmental disclosures the CPD reviewed worldwide in 2022. “We’re proud to be recognized on the CDP’s A List. It confirms that Santander is moving in the right direction regarding the climate agenda”, said Lara de Mesa, the bank’s global head of responsible banking.

The CDP’s questionnaire covers climate change governance, management of risks and opportunities, target setting, commitments, biodiversity management and other topics. 

This achievement complements other ESG ratings Santander has received from MSCI, Sustainalytics, ISS, the FTSE4Good Index and Moody’s Vigeo Eiris. Santander’s placement on the CDP’s A List come on the heels of its being named one of the most sustainable banks in the world by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) in 2022. 

CDP Europe’s executive director, Maxfield Weiss, believes “with the EU’s ground-breaking new reporting regulation, the CSRD, now agreed, CDP A List companies are showing they are ahead of the game – taking clear action to reduce emissions and to address environmental impacts throughout their value chains. This is the type of environmental transparency and action we need economy-wide to prevent ecological collapse”. 

According to Infralogic’s ranking, Santander ended the first half of 2022 as the world’s leader in renewable energy finance, with over 2.4 billion euros in 33 funding transactions and a worldwide market share of 6.4%. In the past decade, it has been a leading bank in renewable energy finance. It has figured among the top three in the world in number of transactions and the top five in funding volume, with a notable presence in 10 markets in Europe and the Americas. 

In supporting the fight against climate change and the green transition, Santander continues to advance its group-wide goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement. In 2022, it announced three new interim targets to decarbonize its portfolios by 2030: -29% absolute emissions financed in the energy sector; and -33% emissions intensity in aviation sector and -32% emissions intensity in the steel sector. These targets complement others that it had announced in 2021, including 46% fewer financed emissions in the energy sector and zero exposure to thermal carbon by 2030. To achieve them, Santander is focusing on helping its customers go green. Santander remains committed to raising 220 billion euros in green finance between 2019 and 2030, with an interim target of 120 billion euros by 2025. By September 2022, it had mobilized 78.7 billion euros.