PNC Financial Services Group has increased its pledge to accelerate financing activity that benefits the environment to $30 billion.
The Pittsburgh bank added $10 billion to a five-year commitment to boost sustainability-linked loans and investments, PNC announced Wednesday. PNC has already met $9 billion out of a $20 billion environmental finance pledge made in August 2021.
The expanded climate pledge "is a natural next step as client demand increases," Michael Lyons, PNC's head of corporate and institutional banking, said in the bank's statement.
It also comes as sustainability trends present the banking industry with new growth opportunities.
Over the next eight years, lenders could facilitate $1.5 trillion in corporate investments in energy transition assets, while sustainable debt investments could generate $100 billion in bank revenue per year, according to a
Banking interest in sustainability is also driven by regulatory and policy support. For example, the Securities and Exchange Commission unveiled a
And areas that PNC has focused its environmental finance commitment on so far — loans for energy- efficient buildings, financing for clean energy and transportation and sustainability-linked bonds — are also initiatives that will be boosted by $369 billion
As climate transition evolves in the coming years, banks will be in position to finance a wider range of decarbonization efforts than they have in the recent past, according to a new report from McKinsey.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency made $100 million in grant funding available to support environmental justice projects in low- to moderate-income communities.
PNC's initiative is also meant to complement its $88 billion Community Benefits Plan announced in connection with its $11.6 billion
As part of the integration process, PNC said it is establishing science-aligned environmental targets for the bank's new footprint, including the reduction of carbon emissions, energy and water consumption.
