European financial services group Societe Generale unveiled a series of ESG and sustainable finance commitments today, including a new target to facilitate €300 billion of sustainable finance by 2025, and goals to reduce portfolio emissions.

The company’s new sustainable finance goal replaces its current pledge, announced in 2020, to help raise €120 billion between 2019 and 2023 through energy transition-related sustainable financing solutions by 2023. Societe Generale indicated that it has already significantly surpassed its goal, reaching €157 billion by the end of 2021.

The new €300 billion goal also expands the scope of its initiatives to cover both environmental and social objectives.

Frédéric Oudéa, Chief Executive Officer of Societe Generale group, said:

“By working closely with our clients and all of our stakeholders, and by drawing on the expertise of all our teams, we will find the solutions enabling us to collectively achieve this major transformation to a decarbonised and socially responsible economy.”

Societe General also announced several financed emissions-related goals, targeting key emissions intensive sectors, including Power generation and oil and gas. For the Power generation sector, the firm is raising its ambition to reduce the carbon intensity of its sector exposure to 125g of CO2 per kWh by 2030, from its prior 163g goal. Societe Generale also aims to reduce its exposure to the oil and gas production sector by 20% by 2025, compared to a prior 10% reduction target, and the company set a new 30% by 2030 reduction target on absolute carbon emissions concerning the end-use of oil and gas production.

Societe Generale is a founding member of the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), a UN-convened coalition of banks dedicated to advancing global net zero goals through their financing activities. Members of the NZBA commit to transitioning operational and attributable greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from their lending and investment portfolios to align with net zero pathways by 2050, and to set 2030 targets, initially focused on priority sectors where the bank can have the most significant impact.

In addition to its sustainable finance and investment goals, Societe Generale also outlined initiatives aimed at integrating its ESG objectives. The company stated that it has embarked on a program seeking to offer CSR training for 100% of its staff, with a specific component on decarbonization issues. Societe Generale is also rolling out its “ESG by Design” program to incorporate ESG issues into all of its processes.

Oudéa said:

“Societe Generale has placed CSR issues, and in particular environmental transition, at the heart of its ambition and its strategic roadmap for 2025. In a complex geopolitical and economic environment, in which energy-related issues are at the forefront, our Group continues to actively support the environmental transition in line with the Paris Agreement.”