PNC pledges $20B over five years for sustainable finance

PNC Financial Services Group is committing $20 billion over the next five years in support of environmentally sustainable projects, including financing for renewable energy, green buildings and clean transportation.

The Pittsburgh-based bank said that the environmental funding is meant to complement an $88 billion community benefits pledge announced earlier this year in connection with PNC’s acquisition of the U.S. banking operations of BBVA.

"PNC recognizes that environmental issues, including climate change, are impacting our business, our clients and the communities in which we operate," Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer Richard Bynum said Wednesday in a press release.

pnc-bl111114
PNC is the latest U.S. bank to publish a Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures report, which provides an accounting of the company’s strategy for addressing climate risk.
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

"We acknowledge that the transition to a low-carbon economy presents both risks and opportunities, and we are committed to balancing financial priorities, responsible risk management and environmental considerations in ways that benefit our varied stakeholders,” Bynum said.

The $554 billion-asset company joins a handful of other large and regional banks making or expanding their commitments to environmental finance. Earlier this year, Bank of America updated its own environmental financing goal, pledging to spend $1 trillion by 2030, up from a goal of $300 billion set two years ago.

PNC established a sustainable finance practice in 2020. That business, headed by Kristi Eberhardt, has largely been dedicated to transition finance, or the practice of helping business clients to finance their own climate transition strategies. An example might be working with a transportation company to upgrade its fleet with more energy-efficient vehicles.

The projects financed as part of Wednesday’s pledge will have to fit certain parameters. Green buildings, for example, must meet certain third-party standards or certifications, such as LEED or ENERGY STAR, and sustainability-linked bonds must follow the Green Bond Principles, to which PNC is a signatory.

The company also recently published its first Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures report, an accounting of the company’s strategy for addressing climate risk within its portfolio and its own operations.

In the 21-page report, PNC outlined board- and management-level oversight for certain climate issues, risk management processes, and a rundown of the carbon footprint generated by the bank's business operations.

Climate risk disclosures are not yet required of any U.S. bank, although the Securities and Exchange Commission is considering a measure to require that public companies disclose those risks.

PNC joins a small but growing number of banks, including the four largest Wall Street banks and Regions Financial in Birmingham, Alabama, that have made the disclosures voluntarily.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Commercial banking ESG Capital markets PNC Financial Services Group
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER