Our green bonds
Handelsbanken strives to be a responsible actor within the financial sector and lead the way towards a sustainable banking industry. By issuing green bonds, the Bank supports the long-term development of sustainable solutions through the financing of green projects. Handelsbanken established its first Green Bond Framework in 2018 and issued two green bonds under it - one in 2018 and one in 2020. To further advance our Green Bond offering, the Green Bond Framework was updated in 2022. Under the updated Framework, Handelsbanken has to date issued four green bonds, of which two are green covered bonds that are issued together with our wholly owned mortgage arm Stadshypotek.
Our updated Green Bond Framework is aligned with the 2021 ICMA Green Bond Principles and has been developed to, more broadly, comply with the technical screening criteria assuring substantial contribution to at least one of the first two environmental objectives “climate change mitigation” and “climate change adaptation” under the EU Taxonomy (the Climate Delegated Act, December 2021). An independent evaluation of the Framework has been carried out by CICERO Shades of Green.
Every year, the Bank reports the environmental impact of our outstanding green bonds by publishing a Green Bond Impact Report, including examples of the eligible green asset’s adherence to the relevant criteria under the Framework.
