ESG Service ESG Report 2020
Zmiana wielkości czcionki
wersja polska english version

Sustainable green financing

GRI:[ ]
TCFD:[ ]
ESG:[ ]
PRB:[ ]

We support our clients in implementing long-term strategies of transforming their businesses into pro-environmental and ecological ones. We actively participate in eco-friendly changes of the Polish energy sector.
In the coming years we will continue to finance the transition from coal to renewable energy sources.

  • GRI:
  • 103-1 Explanation of the material topics and their boundaries for the topic: sustainable financing
    Explanation of the material topics and their boundaries for the topic: sustainable financing
  • 103-2 The management approach to topics identified as material for the topic: sustainable financing
    The management approach to topics identified as material for the topic: sustainable financing
  • 103-3 Evaluation of the management approach to topics identified as material for the topic: sustainable financing
    Evaluation of the management approach to topics identified as material for the topic: sustainable financing
  • KE/TCFD Opportunities related to resource efficiency, cost savings, use of low-carbon energy sources, development of new products and services, access to new markets and building resilience throughout the value chain
    Opportunities related to resource efficiency, cost savings, use of low-carbon energy sources, development of new products and services, access to new markets and building resilience throughout the value chain
  • KE/TCFD Major pro-environmental products and services offered to customers, including offerings that impact climate change solutions
    Major pro-environmental products and services offered to customers, including offerings that impact climate change solutions
  • ESG: E – Environment Environment (Our approach to the environment)
    Environment (Our approach to the environment)
  • PRB 2 Impact We will continuously increase our positive impacts while reducing the negative impacts on, and managing the risks to, people and environment resulting from our activities, products and services.
    We will continuously increase our positive impacts while reducing the negative impacts on, and managing the risks to, people and environment resulting from our activities, products and services.

In 2020, we started implementing the TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) guidelines across the bank.

The Corporate and Investment Banking Division offers a wide range of products and services to support Poland’s energy transition. In 2020, we entered into the following agreements for green financing:

  • We co-financed a solar power plant project developed by R.POWER, a leading Polish investor and developer of photovoltaic systems. This was the largest contract in Poland worth PLN 350 million for the construction of photovoltaic farms, with a total capacity of 121 MWp. This will allow 128 solar power plants to be put into operation in Poland over the next 2 years.
  • We co-financed Dębsk Wind Farm owned by Polenergia. Electricity from the farm will start to be supplied to consumers in mid-2022. The farm will be one of the largest energy sources of this type in Poland.
  • We finalized the issue of the first in Poland ESG-linked bonds for a client from the fuel sector as well as green bonds for a client from the telecommunications sector.
  • Santander Bank Polska is the coordinator, arranger and dealer of the first sustainability-linked bond issue for TAURON Polska Energia S.A., worth PLN 1 billion. The proceeds of the transaction will be used, among others, for TAURON’s Green Turnaround, i.e. increasing the share of zero-emission sources in the generation structure of the organisation.

We signed the first ESG-linked agreement, i.e. an agreement based on the assessment of the borrower’s  Environmental, Social and Governance commitments in the area of sustainability and corporate social responsibility with Energa in September 2019. Santander Bank Polska acts as the coordinator, arranger and ESG agent in it. The PLN 2 billion agreement, signed by a consortium of five banks, is valid until 2024, with an option to extend it until 2026.

  • We use funds obtained from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to offer clients loans under a program supporting energy efficiency of buildings to finance the construction of buildings that meet environmental standards evidenced by generally recognized international LEED or BREEAM certificates, for a total amount of 140% of the financing raised, i.e. EUR 140 million.

By the end of 2020, we had funded 33 green buildings, investing the amount of PLN 479 million.

  • We provided financing in the amount of PLN 165.4 million to Solaris Bus & Coach with a guarantee from BGK for the delivery of 50 zero-emission buses for the Municipal Transport Company in Kraków.
  • At the beginning of 2021, Santander Leasing established cooperation with Elocity, a company offering a complete management system for business electric car charging stations.

Throughout 2020, we financed eco-vehicles worth a total of nearly PLN 164 million.

The offer of financing green fixed assets, both vehicles, machinery and equipment and photovoltaics, for more than 10 years has been a continuation of our strategy to support eco-investments. Only in 2020 we financed eco-vehicles with a total value of almost PLN 164 million, which represents a year-on-year increase of 19%. And according to all indications, the year 2021 should bring further growth, facilitated by, among others, ongoing development of electric vehicle charging infrastructure or the possibility of obtaining support from the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management.

Mariusz Włodarczyk,

CEO of Santander Leasing

Read more about Santander Leasing’s eco-offer of financing electric and hybrid vehicles HERE.