Change Finance

Triodos Bank aims to change the financial system from within by proving that values-based banking and impact investing can be commercially robust and resilient. We strive for a banking world that is sustainable, transparent, and diverse - at both a national and international level.

We believe in a new kind of finance. The financial sector can benefit from the integration of four key concepts: sustainability in the broadest definition, impact, diversity and transparency. The legal framework of all financial institutions and markets should be fundamentally revised on these principles.

1. A resilient, sustainable and inclusive economy

The financial sector is an essential part of society. It should serve the real economy and society as a whole: companies, social institutions, all of us as citizens and consumers. The financial sector plays a crucial role in supporting a resilient, sustainable and inclusive economy. As part of this mission, Triodos Bank focuses on the strategic themes of energy and climate, food and agriculture and social inclusion.

2. All finance is impact finance

All finance is impact finance. All decisions about the use of money have an impact on people, communities, nature and society. Where money is invested in the real economy, something happens. By dealing with money in a conscious way, and aligning decisions about money with our values, one can make money work for people in a positive way.

3. Diversity in banking

A diverse banking system serves the diversity of our economies better and the stability of the financial system. We need banks of all sizes, not just a small number of large ones. Ultimately this is a challenge for governments and regulators, as well as banks. And we want to play our part in supporting other financial institutions through networks such as the Global Alliance for Banking on Values.

4. Transparent banking

Trust is a crucial part of the financial sector. There can only be trust, when the financial sector is transparent about its business models, its lending activity and investments, so stakeholders know how their money is used by their bank, and how their bank makes, or loses, its money. Whilst this is something that needs to be led by consumer demand, Triodos Bank wants to serve as a reference point for the degree of transparency that is possible in banking. For that reason Triodos Bank publishes details of all its loans.

We influence the financial sector nationally and internationally to make money work for positive change and strengthen the change finance movement.

We play a role in the debate about the social function of banks. To reinforce this, we have played a key role in setting up several networks. In 2009, we co-founded the Global Alliance for Banking on Values. As of 2021, this organisation is made up of over 60 values-based banks and financial institutions on six continents.

Since 1997, Triodos Bank has been a member of UNEP FI (United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative), a collaboration between the United Nations Environment Programme and the global financial sector to mobilise private finance for sustainable development.

The UN Principles for Responsible Banking are one of the results of this network. Together with 27 other sustainable banks, we worked on these guidelines that describe the role and responsibilities of the global banking sector in addressing current social and environmental challenges, from the climate crisis to inequality. In 2019, the UN Principles for Responsible Banking were signed by 130 banks worldwide. By the end of 2020, there were more than 200 signatories.

See details of our partners and networks.

It is important that banks can measure their impact on the climate, in order to improve it. In 2018, we started measuring the CO2 emissions caused by our loans and investments using the methodology pioneered by the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF). PCAF was created in 2015 by a group of Dutch financial institutions, including Triodos Bank, during the Climate Conference in Paris. At the end of 2020, PCAF had been adopted by over 100 financial institutions worldwide.

The bank has analysed its loan portfolio by sector to look at how decarbonisation can be achieved. It has used this analysis to set an ambitious target of reaching net zero emissions as early as possible, and at the latest by 2035. We aim to reach this target by reducing our own emissions and the emission intensity of the activities we finance. We also invest in Nature-based Solutions that remove carbon from the atmosphere. Find out more at As One To Zero.

We are also one of the founders of the Partnership for Biodiversity Accounting Financials (PBAF) which aims for financial institutions to measure their impact on biodiversity, for them to be transparent about their impact reporting and for them to set targets to improve their ecological footprint.

We have recently produced several vision papers on key impact themes. How do we finance a fairer food system? What contribution can a bank have in the energy transition? And how should the economy change in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic?

Change Finance for Triodos Bank

Our principles of Change Finance

This is how we make the financial sector more sustainable

We actively participate in networks

Investing in the real economy provides real returns

Changing finance to address today's global challenges

We talk to politicians and policymakers

How could the Bank of England get climate change seriously wrong?

‘Reset the economy, find a new balance between social, ecological and economic values’

Triodos signs open letter for #greenrecovery

We make positive impact measurable

How finance can help the low-carbon transition

Pilot nature investment projects showing strong promise

Triodos Bank sets target to reach net zero by 2035

Vision papers

Energy and climate

Energy plays a key role in making the economy more sustainable. We believe that banks should take a lead in financing the energy transition, and should divest from fossil fuels.

Agriculture and food

Triodos Bank has long been an advocate for a sustainable food and farming system that works with nature, not against it.

Reset the economy

The corona crisis exposed substantial shortcomings in our current economic and social system. Economists from Triodos Bank Kees Vendrik and Hans Stegeman set out a concrete agenda to 'Reset the Economy'.

Social inclusion

Empowering people, making sure everybody can participate in society, and challenging the current social paradigm are key to creating an inclusive global society.

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