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19 Mar 2021 – Articles

Danske Bank Group’s green loans enabled 998,940 tonnes less CO2 emissions in 2020

Danske Bank and Realkredit Danmark have provided in total more than DKK 22 billion in green loans to corporate customers resulting in 998,940 tonnes of avoided CO2.

A newly released Green Bond Impact report from Danske Bank shows that the Group’s total volume of new green loans doubled from DKK 7 billion in 2019 to DKK 15 billion in 2020, bringing the total green loan portfolios to DKK 22bn. 
This have enabled 998,940 tonnes of avoided CO2 emissions, which is mainly achieved through the financing of renewable energy projects and energy efficient buildings.

“We have seen a significant increase in the demand for green loans the past year. The loans are mainly used for renewable energy projects as well as green and energy efficient buildings but also for financing clean transportation, pollution prevention and sustainable forestry,” says Samu Slotte, Global Head of Sustainable Finance at Danske Bank.
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The impact of green loans
As the name implies, Danske Bank’s Green Bond Impact report provides an estimated overview of the environmental impact achieved by the use of proceeds from Danske Bank’s and Realkredit Danmark’s green loans. The proceeds come from three inaugural green bonds that were issued in 2019 and 2020.

The majority of loans are in the Nordic countries as nearly half of the loans are to activities in Denmark, followed by Finland, Sweden and Norway.

One of the customers that have used the green loans is Dades.

With 68 office buildings and 12 shopping malls, Dades is one of the largest privately owned property companies in Denmark.

Dades have used green loans to finance two buildings consisting of 183 residential apartments, an area for commercial business activities and approximately 6,850 m2 parking lots. Both buildings have the A2015 energy label and are constructed with 162 m2 rooftop solar panels that have an expected annual production capacity of 8,919 kWh.



Green financing keep growing 
The area of green financing continues to grow rapidly and providing green lending is an important part of Danske Bank’s ambition to be a leading Nordic bank on sustainable finance.

“The sustainable finance area is evolving at a high pace and we will continue to expand our green loan offerings to new clients and segments of the bank. We have recently started to offer green loans to our medium-sized corporate customers and introduced green leasing as a new form of green financing for large clients especially in the transportation sector,” Samu Slotte explains.

What is a green loan?

  • A green loan finances or re-finances loans or investments that promote the transition to low-carbon, climate resilient and sustainable economies.
  • Danske Bank’s Green Bond Committee determines whether a loan can be acknowledged as green in accordance with the eight Green loan categories of Danske Bank’s Green Bond Framework