(Bloomberg) -- Swedbank AB is adopting new climate targets that the bank says will put the vast majority of its lending portfolio in line with a 1.5 degree global-warming ceiling by 2030.

The Stockholm-based bank is Sweden’s biggest mortgage lender and also has a significant exposure to commercial real estate and housing co-operative associations. It therefore hopes the targets will have the biggest impact in terms of reducing emissions in these areas, Fredrik Nilzen, Head of Group Sustainability at Swedbank said.

“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 “we see a totally different interest in taking those measures,” he said.

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 and draws on methodology from the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF). The targets have been sent to the Science-Based Targets Initiative for external validation.

For mortgages, a similar methodology is used as for the business sectors. The underlying asset’s energy consumption -- a home -- 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.

 

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