Akbank maintained its strong sustainability performance in the first half of 2024. During this period, Akbank provided $600 million in support to the Turkish economy through the renewal of a syndicated loan and announced its robust commitments and roadmap for 2030 as a member of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance. Akbank also continued to invest in projects that support social development.
Akbank successfully continued its efforts focused on sustainable financing, ecosystem management, climate change, and people and society, exceeding its targets each year. In this context, Akbank maintained its strong sustainability performance in the first half of 2024.
Emphasising that they continue to take decisive steps in the area of sustainability, Akbank CEO Kaan Gür said, “With an emphasis on people, we work toward sustainability in all aspects of life, from our sustainable financing instruments to mentoring activities for women entrepreneurs, from our social investments that prepare young people for the future to our long-term support for the arts. Following our achievements in 2023, we displayed a strong sustainability performance in the first half of 2024. While strengthening our cooperation with international networks and our global commitments, we accelerated our efforts for the sustainable future of all our stakeholders. We will continue to contribute to the low carbon and inclusive economy of our country with our long-term goals.”
Joined Net-Zero Banking Alliance
Akbank strengthened its goal of becoming a Net-Zero Bank by 2050 through its participation in the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). As part of its membership in the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, which was established under the leadership of the United Nations and brings together more than 140 banks committed to aligning their loan and investment portfolios with net-zero emissions by 2050, Akbank announced its 2030 emission reduction targets and sectoral strategies. Accordingly, Akbank aims to reduce its financed emission intensity by 60% in power generation activities, 23.8% in cement production, and 29% in iron and steel production by 2030, compared to the base year 2021. In line with its Net-Zero targets, Akbank has also committed to phasing out coal by 2040, considering the principles of a just transition. Thus, it once again underscored its commitment to renewable energy and the fight against climate change.
Renewed Sustainability-Themed Syndicated Loan with Record Demand
Akbank provided $600 million in support to the Turkish economy through a syndicated loan renewed by 120% with record demand. The cost of the 367-day syndicated loan was realized as SOFR+2.50% and Euribor+2.25%. A total of 45 banks from 20 countries participated in the Bank's sustainability-themed transaction, including 16 new banks.
Continued to Take Decisive Steps in Sustainable Financing
Akbank has quadrupled its 2030 sustainable financing target to TL 800 billion by the end of 2023. Continuing its unwavering efforts, the Bank provided TL 81 billion of sustainable financing in the first half of the year and thus, it has created a total of TL 307 billion in resources in this field since 2021.
The number of investors in ESG-themed and ESG-scored funds increased by 188% in the first half of the year.
The total volume of ESG-themed and ESG-scored funds reached TL 12.2 billion in the first half of 2024, with 396,000 investors. The number of investors has increased by 188% since the beginning of the year. Offering many investment options that enable its customers to invest in companies that perform well in ESG areas, Akbank recently launched a new website, www.iyigelecegeyatirim.com, encouraging investors to invest in areas and companies that will benefit the world and societies.
Continued Strong Support for the Startup Ecosystem
Since 2022, Akbank has reached 18,000 SMEs through the Akbank Transformation Academy, which was established with the aim of digitalizing and financially strengthening SMEs. Standing by women entrepreneurs and leaders with its innovative services, Akbank also launched the BinYaprak Women Entrepreneur Mentorship Program in cooperation with TurkishWIN. Within the scope of the program, 100 women entrepreneurs receive one-on-one mentoring support from 100 mentors.
Under the umbrella of Akbank LAB, Akbank's innovation center, Akbank also runs the Akbank+ program to support its employees who want to start their own ventures. In the second term of the program, Akbank invested $400,000 in Metriqus, a startup that enables game studios to make data-driven decisions in their marketing activities. With investments made in Waste Log, which digitalizes waste processes, and Voltla, which improves the experience of electric vehicle owners, in the first period of Akbank+, the total investment reached $1.4 million.
Young People at the Center of Social Benefit Projects
Akbank continues to be a companion for young people as they prepare for the competencies of the future, discover their potential, and realize their dreams. In this context, Akbank Youth Academy reached 24,000 young people in the first half of 2024, providing training, mentoring, and experience opportunities to nearly 160,000 young people from all 208 universities in Türkiye since 2020. At the same time, through the Akbank Beautiful Tomorrows Movement, which was carried out in the earthquake zone to help young people gain new competencies, approximately 8,600 young people have been reached with 590 workshops and 1,026 hours of activities since September 2023. Launched by Akbank in 2015 to raise awareness among young people about volunteerism and mobilize them to take action on issues they care about, the City's Good State Platform completed its university tour, meeting with more than 1,000 students.
Akbank, which has undertaken one of the largest advanced transformation projects in Turkey and Europe in terms of scale and scope, is working to support the education of hundreds of thousands of students in the earthquake zone with the "Transformation Holds the Future Project" . The office furniture of Akbank employees, which has completed its function, is being transformed into thousands of pieces of school furniture for new beginnings, from classroom boards to cabinets, desks, and teacher’s desks. Approximately 5,300 school furniture, which has been upcycled so far with the "Transformation Holds the Future Project", has been delivered to 360 primary schools in the earthquake zone.