Green finance: Swedbank adopts climate target for shipping portfolio

Nordic-Baltic banking group Swedbank has set a climate target for its shipping portfolio by integrating climate considerations into its loan decisions for ship finance.

In February 2024, Swedbank signed the Poseidon Principles, a global framework for integrating climate considerations into loan decisions for ship finance.

As a next step, Swedbank has adopted a climate target for its shipping portfolio, adding to the list of sectors in which the bank already measures financed emissions and have set climate targets.

“Swedbank continues to strengthen its sustainability commitment by adopting additional climate targets. Shipping is the sixth sector in which we measure and set targets for our climate footprint. Collectively, these goals cover about 80 per cent of our lending portfolio. Together with our customers, we continue to accelerate the transition,” Johanna Fager Wettergren, Head of Group Sustainability at Swedbank, said.

The new target means that, by 2030, the financed emission intensity of Swedbank’s shipping portfolio will be aligned with the most ambitious decarbonization pathway of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

This will mean that the average emission intensity of the portfolio is to be approximately halved compared with the 2022 baseline. Swedbank has already set an overall emission target to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

“Our climate targets for the shipping portfolio highlight our commitment to reducing the climate impact of shipping industry. The sector continues to lower its carbon dioxide emissions, and our role is to be an active partner, supporting our customers in their ongoing transition,” Niels R. Bugge, Head of Ocean Industries at Swedbank, commented.

The target applies to Swedbank’s lending to vessels covered by the Poseidon Principles, corresponding to vessels 5,000 gross tonnage and above.

As part of its work to set the new target, Swedbank has produced a methodology paper that describes the bank’s selection criteria for the adoption of sector-specific climate targets. The methodology paper also explains how Swedbank will work towards achieving the targets.