Climate Change Strategy

Our corporate purpose is to promote sustainable economic development to achieve wellbeing for all. For this reason, with the interest to build and contribute to more sustainable cities and communities, we have defined a strategy to contribute for the development of a low carbon economy in Colombia. To achieve this, we have an ambition to finance more than 40 trillion pesos by 2030 towards the support we will provide to agriculture, livestock, mobility, building, renewable energies, and the most sensitive industries, to help them to achieve their climate change targets.

This policy defines two scenarios:

Transition Scenario: Under this scenario, we seek to advise our cement, energy, oil and gas, steel, transportation and livestock business clients in their transition to a low carbon economy. Specifically, for these industries we propose an engagement strategy aimed at the transformation of their business models, so that we can take part along with them to identify and finance opportunities that contribute to the sustainable transformation of each of these sectors. It is important to consider that in this scenario we are not declaring a lower risk exposure, but a reduction in the financing of specific polluting activities in said industries.

Coal phase-out scenario: Under this scenario we are committed to have zero credit portfolio exposure in coal mining and coal power generation industries by 2030. Except for those operations whose terms were agreed to prior to the enforcement of this policy. Long-term loans will be allowed to finance projects seeking to reduce GHG emissions or environmental impact, with a maximum disbursement date of December 2025 and a maximum maturity date of December 2027. Short-term financing for working capital is also allowed until December 2025.

Please see Policy_ sensitive industries to Climate Change Policy.

Engagement with clients of the Coal Industry
 

In 2019, we updated our internal climate change policy. Our main objective: To identify and manage the risks and opportunities related to climate change to develop the necessary actions to align the business strategy with the goals established in the Paris agreement.

This policy covers our entire operation in the countries where we do business. This policy focuses on the economic sectors that are most vulnerable to climate change. Likewise, it focuses on sectors that generate a greater impact through greenhouse gas emissions in their activities development and on others that can derive greater opportunities through implementing mitigation and adaptation measures related to this phenomenon. See Climate Change Policy.

Our climate change management and performance consider 4 fundamental pillars per the TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures):

Results of quantifying our financed emissions using the PCAF methodology (Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials). See the results of our financed emissions.

We understand that as a financial industry our biggest impact on climate change is in our financed emissions. In this sense, complying with our commitments in Science Based Targets Initiative and Net Zero Banking Alliance, our climate targets can be found here. 

In Grupo Bancolombia we currently only finance conventional Oil & Gas practices. We are constantly monitoring the trends in this industry, the strategy of the governments where we operate, the environmental impacts of new Oil and Gas methods, among other aspects.

We have voluntarily adhered to various frameworks to stay current, apply best practices, and report on our management.

2020 – Net-Zero Banking Alliance

We joined the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) as one of 43 banks worldwide committed to the Paris Agreement.

2020 – PCAF

We adhered to this global framework for financial institutions to measure and disclose greenhouse gas emissions from investment product portfolios.

2019 – TCFD

We adhered to the TCFD as part of a voluntary initiative that includes recommendations on making climate risk disclosure more effective.

2019 – Climate Action 100+

We invest to ensure that companies generating the highest GHG emissions act on climate change. We are 450 investors with more than 40tn USD of assets.

2019 - Business ambition 1.5°C

We signed the document in which we commit for 24 months to align our decarbonization plans with a 1.5°C scenario.

2015 - Science Based Targets

The World Resources Institute and WWF–in partnership with the United Nations Global Compact–support companies to set more planet-conscious goals.

Climate Finance Leadership Initiative

UN Special Envoy Michael R. Bloomberg has joined forces with BBVA and Bancolombia to launch CFLI Colombia, the first CFLI country pilot in Latin America. These pilots are a private-sector led, country-specific approach to mobilizing climate finance at scale.

 

CFLI Colombia was launched on April 2022 and is designed to identify and accelerate both financial and policy solutions to move capital into sectors and activities that are critical to achieving a low-carbon and climate resilient economy as well as to helping to reach the NDC ambitions.

 

2021 GFANZ

In 2021 Bancolombia has joined GFANZ. Its alliance provides a forum for leading financial institutions to accelerate the transition to a net-zero global economy. Members currently include banks, asset managers, asset owners, insurance companies, etc., from across the global financial sector, representing more than $130 trillion in assets under management and advice.

Among more than 450 member institutions, Bancolombia is part of the Principals Group made up of 19 CEOs worldwide.

2021 Net-Zero

In 2021 Bancolombia has joined the Net-Zero Asset Managers Initiative, an international group of asset managers committed to supporting the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner, in line with global efforts to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius; and to supporting investing aligned with net zero emissions by 2050 or sooner.

 

We adhered to NZAM compromising to align our investment portfolios with climate neutral scenarios before 2050, being the first Latin American institution in the Alliance.