As of 31 December 2022, SEB’s eligible green asset portfolio amounted to 46.6 billion Swedish kronor, an increase of around 60 per cent compared to 2021. The growth came mainly from financing of wind power and green buildings.
“We are convinced that sustainable financing is among the most important drivers in the transition towards a sustainable society. We are committed to continuing supporting our customers in their development towards a greener future,” says Jonas Ahlström, head of SEB’s division Large Corporates & Financial Institutions.
“The development of our green asset portfolio reflects the ambition in SEB’s Sustainability Activity Index – to increase sustainability activities 6–8 times by 2030,” says Jonas Ahlström.
SEB issued its first green bond in 2017. Following an update of the Green Bond Framework in early 2022, two senior non-preferred bonds were issued in the green format during the year, together amounting to 2 billion euros or 22.2 billion kronor.
The framework, which is broadly aligned with the EU Taxonomy, allows financing and refinancing in 10 categories with the aim to contribute to the long-term vision of a low-carbon and environmentally sustainable society. Almost 60 per cent of the assets consist of renewable energy projects, mainly wind power. The remainder is financing of green buildings, clean transportation, sustainable forestry, and energy efficiency projects. Sweden and Finland each account for just below one third of the portfolio, while remaining assets are in Germany, the UK, Norway and the Baltics.
During 2022, SEB also issued the first loan within circular economy – a new category in the updated framework.
The proceeds of the green bonds are estimated to annually avoid or reduce emissions by 1,253,642 tonnes of CO2 equivalents. This corresponds to emissions from around 1.5 million cars* running an average distance of 12,000 kilometres per year.
More information about SEB’s sustainability work can be found in the Annual and Sustainability Report.
Read more and download The Green Bond Investor Report
Read and download Annual and Sustainability reports
*The average emissions from a new car in Sweden during 2022 was 70 g CO2/km (ref. Trafikverket).