Citi to Reach $100 Billion Environmental Goal Four Years Early
ByCiti to Reach $100 Billion Environmental Goal Four Years Early
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Benchmark set to be attained this year instead of in 2023
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Bank is first in U.S. to sign UN plan for responsible banking
Citigroup Inc. said it will reach a long-term goal of financing $100 billion worth of activities that reduce the impacts of climate change four years ahead of schedule.
The company, which also on Wednesday became the first major U.S. bank to support a set of United Nations-backed principles for responsible banking, now expects to meet its environmental-finance benchmark this year, it said in a statement. The bank originally expected to reach the goal in 2023.
As part of its commitment to the UN principles, Citigroup will be required to identify the most significant social, economic and environmental impacts from its banking activities and set public targets for them. The bank also plans to report its progress on meeting the goals.
“We remain laser focused on incorporating sustainability principles into everything we do,” Chief Executive Officer Michael Corbat said in the statement.
Citigroup in recent years has emerged as a leader on several social issues. The firm was the first major bank to set restrictions on the firearms industry when it announced plans last year to to prohibit retailers that are customers of the bank from offering bump stocks or selling guns to people who haven’t passed a background check or are younger than 21. In 2015, the bank also pledged to reduce lending to coal-mining companies.
As part of its efforts to improve sustainability, Citigroup said last month that it worked with other banks to develop the so-called Poseidon Principles, which require backers to integrate climate considerations into their lending decisions for the shipping industry. Shippers globally produce greenhouse-gas emissions equal to those produced by Germany, Citigroup said in a statement at the time.
“The burden is shifting towards companies to take positions to try to drive progress and change,” Ed Skyler, Citigroup’s executive vice president of global public affairs, said last month in an interview posted on news website Cheddar. “People are becoming fed up with stagnation in government.”
