Sweden’s biggest home lender to cut mortgage emissions by 40%

STOCKHOLM-BASED Swedbank will adopt new climate targets that will put most of its lending portfolio in line with a 1.5 deg C global-warming ceiling by 2030.

Swedbank is Sweden’s biggest mortgage lender; it also has a significant exposure to commercial real estate and housing co-operative associations. Head of group sustainability Fredrik Nilzen said the bank therefore hopes the targets will have the biggest impact in terms of reducing emissions in these areas.

“There are a lot of property companies in Sweden that still haven’t accelerated their energy efficiency and made the necessary investments,” Nilzen said. But against the current backdrop of soaring inflation, interest rates and energy prices, Swedbank sees “a totally different interest in taking those measures”.

The bank has already committed to targets for its own business activities, as well as the capital managed by its investment arm, Swedbank Robur. The climate targets will apply to mortgages as well as a number of business sectors. They have also been sent to the Science-Based Targets Initiative for external validation.

A similar methodology, drawn from the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials, is used for both mortgages and the business sectors. The underlying asset’s energy consumption is measured with the information from energy certificates issued by a government agency or estimated through other data, such as a building’s heating source and size. BLOOMBERG