Energy generation is essential for modern life, but relying on fossil fuels to provide it has a high environmental and social cost. A fundamental transition is needed away from a carbon-based economy to a renewable one. That's why we finance solar, wind and hydro energy.

We think energy is a basic human need. That means it's something that we need to make sure is generated and used on a sustainable basis for future generations.

A fundamental transition is needed to decarbonise our economy

The increasing global demand for energy, concerns over energy security and the impact of global climate change have become ever-more urgent issues. By lending and investing in solar, wind and hydro energy, Triodos Bank stimulates the energy transition. We also finance and co-finance projects that increase the use of renewable resources, reduce the demand for energy and promote energy efficiency.

Triodos Bank supports the sustainable and inclusive transition of our economies and society in line with the Paris Agreement target of limiting the temperature increase to – at most –1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. At the COP26 in November 2021, we disclosed our transition plan targeting net zero as early as possible and by 2035 at the latest.

Our ambition is to significantly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of all Triodos Bank's loans and funds’ investments, using a science-based targets approach, while also considering, for instance, biodiversity and social inclusion. Any remaining emissions will be balanced or ‘inset’ by investing considerably in nature projects that remove greenhouse gases from the air. Triodos Bank’s As One to Zero target aligns its portfolio of loans and funds’ investments with a maximum global temperature rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

We have set priorities about what to finance and how to extend our impact through our activities based on our experience and expertise in these sectors.

All of the energy projects that we finance contribute to our vision of a sustainable energy system.

Whether through the installation of new renewable energy generation capacity (from wind, solar or hydro energy) or energy savings and efficiency measures, all of our projects make a meaningful contribution to a more resilient, sustainable and cleaner energy system.

As well as its direct impact as a financer, Triodos Bank acts as an opinion leader in the energy space, including engaging in debate about the urgent importance of a low-carbon economy and how to move towards it. It published a vision paper (2019) describing its long-term view of energy and climate issues.

Triodos Bank played a catalytic role in the development of PCAF, the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials, an initiative between Dutch financial institutions to measure and disclose the carbon emissions of loans and investments, which has since 2018 evolved into The Global GHG Accounting and Reporting Standard for the Financial Industry. We are still actively taking part in the further development and advocacy of the methodology. As one of the first banks to report in this way, we actively collaborate with our partners to encourage others to do the same.

We aim to be a leader in impact-driven reporting in the financial industry. Our focus is on managing impact in ways that improve people’s quality of life and on communicating this impact to our stakeholders.

A fundamental transition is needed to decarbonise our economy. By lending and investing in solar, wind and hydro energy, Triodos Bank stimulates this transition. We also finance and co-finance projects that increase the use of renewable resources, reduce the demand for energy and promote energy efficiency.

By the end of 2022, Triodos Bank and its climate and energy investment funds were financing 611 projects (2021: 586) in the energy sector. These included:

522 sustainable power-generating projects related to wind (199), solar (287), hydro (35), or a combination (1);
43 sustainable power projects in a construction phase;
46 energy-efficiency projects including 24 heat and cold storage projects, 6 battery storage projects, 1 greenhouse gas-neutral biomass project and a diverse range of energy-efficiency initiatives.

Through our share in these renewable energy projects, over 1.0 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions were avoided (2021: 0.8 million tonnes).

The total capacity of the power-generating projects was 9,100 MW (2021: 6,000 MW), producing the equivalent of annual electricity needs of 7.4 million households worldwide or approximately 865,000 based on an attribution approach (2021: 698,000).

Our calculations only measure projects with a direct relationship to our finance or investment activities. If it is not possible to record 100% of the energy produced by the facilities we finance or invest in, we use estimates based on wind and solar indexes if applicable, and exclude projects that are still under construction.

With our carbon disclosures we have applied the attribution approach. This means that we calculate avoided emissions as they relate to the proportion of our finance in a project. For example, if we are responsible for half of a project’s finance, we report half of the emissions avoided by that project. This attribution approach is a more accurate reflection of Triodos Bank’s responsibility for the greenhouse gas emissions of the projects it finances and is consistent with the PCAF methodology.

The calculation of CO2e emission avoidance is made using conversion rates (gram CO2 equivalent per kWh, MJ or m3 energy produced) received from Guidehouse, an international energy and climate consultancy bureau and serving as the Secretariat of PCAF. The conversion rates, or emission factors, are derived from the Operating Margin emission factor of the International Financial Institutions (IFI) dataset and describe, per country, the grams of CO2e avoided when comparing sustainable energy with the non-sustainable power plants that will be replaced first when utilising new renewable power sources.

To calculate the average energy use in kWh per household in the countries where we are active, we use the most recent energy efficiency indicators published by the World Energy Council (WEC) and by Odyssee-mure.

The ‘Impact per customer’ calculations used throughout the annual report are based on a total of 744,000 customers at the end of 2022.

More information on how we contribute to decarbonising the economy can be found in our online annual report here.