Societe Generale Sets New €500 Billion Sustainable Finance Goal After Surpassing Targets

Paris-based financial services group Societe Generale has announced that it has met several of its sustainable finance goals ahead of schedule, including facilitating €300 billion in financing for environmental and social activities between 2020 and 2025. The company also unveiled a new sustainable finance target of €500 billion for the period from 2024 to 2030, expanding its focus on supporting environmental and social initiatives.

Societe Generale highlighted its success in reducing its upstream oil and gas exposure by over 50% on a 2019 baseline in Q2 2024, achieving this goal a year earlier than planned. Additionally, the company has significantly withdrawn from the thermal coal sector, with current exposure at less than 0.1% of its financing portfolio. These steps reflect the bank’s commitment to aligning its financial activities with sustainability targets and reducing support for high-emitting sectors.

Slawomir Krupa, CEO of Societe Generale, commented on the company’s ongoing efforts, stating, “Societe Generale continues to strengthen its contribution to sustainable development in the service of its clients, supported by our culture of innovation, our ESG leadership, and our conviction of the crucial role that a responsible bank can play in the challenges of the environmental transition.”

The €300 billion goal was set in 2022, after surpassing an earlier target, and expanded Societe Generale’s sustainable finance ambitions to include both social and environmental objectives. The new €500 billion target will allocate approximately 80% of financing to environmental activities and 20% to social initiatives, including €400 billion in financing and advisory services and €100 billion in sustainable bonds.

Societe Generale is a founding member of the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), a coalition of banks led by the UN to advance net zero goals through their financing activities. As part of its NZBA commitment, the bank has set 2030 alignment targets for ten high-emission sectors, including Oil & Gas, Thermal Coal, Power, Commercial Real Estate, Cement, Steel, Aluminium, Automotive, Shipping, and Aviation. It recently expanded this effort to include the Agriculture and Residential Real Estate sectors.

The bank emphasized that the new sustainable finance goal aligns with its 2030 financed emissions targets, with an emphasis on decarbonizing high-emitting sectors. A significant portion of the financing will support transactions in areas such as low-carbon energy, sustainable real estate, and low-carbon mobility. Societe Generale also plans to leverage its renewable energy expertise to expand its cross-sectoral approach to value chains, while broadening its sustainable finance offerings with innovative ESG solutions and advisory capabilities to assist clients in their transitions.

Krupa further stated, “This year, we have taken new steps in the execution of our strategic roadmap with concrete progress reflected in the progressive reduction of our fossil fuel exposure. We are also continuing to broaden our action by proactively supporting our clients in their own transitions with adapted solutions and an enhanced sustainable finance offering, while supporting the emergence of new players and new technologies. I remain convinced that the transition to a low-carbon and sustainable economy requires collective and coordinated action in which Societe Generale is involved on a daily basis.”