An offshore wind farm, four electric ferries, improvement of more than 30 Nordic hydropower plants, a green and energy-efficient residential building with 300 apartments, and the improvement of a recycling plant. These are among the results of the green loans Danske Bank and Realkredit Danmark have provided to corporate customers in 2019. A green loan is a loan that is earmarked for initiatives with a clear environmental impact. 

New Green Bond Impact Report uncovers impact of green financing 
Recently, we published our first Green Bond Impact report, which provides an overview of the environmental impact of our green loans granted to corporate customers in 2019. 

One of the customers that have used a green loan to finance an initiative with a clear, environmental impact is Finnish Kemijoki Oy, who is the leading producer of hydropower and regulating power in Finland. The Green Loan provided by Danske Bank will improve more than 20 existing hydropower plants.




Image: Jani Ollila, CFO in Kemijoki Oy.

“Hydropower is both predictable and flexible, which makes it essential in fighting climate change and supporting a green transition of society. The green loan finances the maintenance of our existing hydropower capacity, such as power upgrades and plant modernisations, and ensures that the facilities can continue generating renewable energy,” says Jani Ollila, CFO in Kemijoki Oy.

Lending contributes to sustainable finance target
Providing green lending is an important part of supporting and accelerating our customers’ green transition, and crucial in our commitment to make a positive contribution to the societies we are part of. In February, Danske Bank introduced a new target to provide more than DKK 100bn in sustainable financing towards 2023. 

Sustainable finance can consist of facilitating customers’ issuance of e.g. green bonds, which enables issuers such as corporates, financial institutions and sovereigns to raise funding for projects that support a sustainability agenda. Or, it can take the form of green loans to customers, where lending is provided for green activities, or lending to projects that for example seek to reduce CO2 emissions.