Approach to managing environmental impacts and climate protection

Sustainability, caring for the environment and tackling the effects of climate change are the key elements of 'Security and Trust’ – one of the six strategic directions of the bank’s overall business strategy for 2021-2023. Our approach to ESG and sustainability is also defined in the Responsible Banking Strategy which is an integral part of the business strategy.

In practice, this means developing environmentally friendly, ”green” products and solutions, supporting the transition to a low- and zero-carbon economy, conducting educational activities aimed at customers, employees and local communities and aligning our operations with the requirements of international environmental and climate change regulations. As part of our environmental responsibility, we also carry out initiatives to reduce the bank’s environmental footprint.

In managing our environmental impact, we apply the prudence principle and the overarching document describing our approach to environmental issues is the ”Sustainability Policy”, in which we declare, among other things, that we aim to:

Our Net Zero strategy envisages that the entire Santander Group will be zero-carbon by 2050. The reduction includes both internal emissions, caused by electricity consumption or business travel, but also emissions that result from our financing – lending, advisory or investment services provided to clients from all segments.

We have already achieved internal carbon neutrality in 2020. This was made possible by the transition to green energy (100% of the energy purchased directly by the bank comes from RES) and the purchase of carbon credits, i.e. green certified assets that offset emissions.

As part of our pursuit of carbon neutrality, we have committed that from 2030 we will stop financing energy companies whose revenue from coal-fired generation exceeds 10%. In addition, we plan to completely reduce our exposure to thermal coal producers by 2030. One of our priorities is to support customers in the green transition through extensive financing of renewable energy sources and active promotion of green financial products.

Environmental activities undertaken in 2021:

• We developed and strengthened our responsible banking agenda based on ESG indicators.
• We aligned our activities with the Group’s Net Zero strategy.
• We implemented a new ”Environmental, Social and Climate Change Risk Management” policy.
• We implemented a new governance model for the responsible banking agenda.
• We established an ESG Forum and appointed 11 ESG Leads representing each division of the bank.
• We are implementing the Sustainable Finance Classification System.
• We developed the bank’s Green Offer and supported customers in their green transformation and transition to a low- and zero-carbon operating model.
• We carried out the second largest green bond issue for a non-financial company with a total value of EUR 311 million.
• We committed EUR 109 million to support the development of renewable energy sources (RES).
• We allocated EUR 372 million for green financing in 2021.
• We issued, for the first time, Santander Bank Polska S.A. sustainable bonds with a total value of PLN 750 million.

We manage environmental risks arising from our own activities and those of the bank’s customers.

In 2021, we introduced the ”Environmental, Social and Climate Change Risk Management Policy”, which identifies the risks for each customer segment.

For the purpose of the TCFD report, which is an integral part of this ESG report, and to enhance Santander Bank Polska S.A.’s climate resilience, we conducted an analysis that allowed us to identify climate risks and opportunities in detail based on two climate scenarios, covering three timeframes: short-term (2025), medium-term (2030) and long-term (2050).

The analysis covered the entire value chain and all the markets in which Santander Bank Polska S.A. operates.