“We at Arion Bank want to support environmental projects that benefit both Iceland and other countries, in accordance with the UN SDGs. It is clear that human-caused climate change poses significant challenges that we all need to address in our net-zero strategies. VAXA Technologies Iceland demonstrates a tangible commitment to both people and the planet, and we are happy to partner with them. VAXA’s Energy-to-Food (E 2 F) technology is unique to Iceland and gives us the opportunity to positively impact lives across the globe.”
Benedikt Gíslason, CEO of Arion Bank
Arion Bank and its subsidiaries provide comprehensive financial services in Iceland and elsewhere in the Arctic. Arion Bank places great importance on developing long-term relationships with its clients and is a market leader as a provider of cutting-edge and modern banking services. The Bank aims to operate responsibly in harmony with society and the environment and in partnership with our customers we stimulate shared growth and progress for the society.
Arion Bank provides services to households, corporates, institutions and investors in three business segments: Retail Banking, Corporate & Investment Banking, and Markets. The service offering is further augmented by the subsidiaries Stefnir and Vörður. Stefnir is one of the largest fund management companies in Iceland, and Vörður is the fastest growing insurance company in Iceland, providing non-life and life insurance.
We place great importance on environmental and social issues and good corporate governance in our operations. How banks manage and facilitate the flow of their financial resources can have a decisive impact on the progress of sustainable development in individual countries and globally because a bank’s greatest impact is in the loans and investments it makes on behalf of its customers. Arion Bank’s wants to act as a role model in responsible and profitable business practices, taking into account the environment, the economy and society.
The Bank has adopted an environment and climate policy, and in the last few years we have added to our service offering green financial services, such as green car loans, business loans, deposits and mortgages. We have published a Green Financing Framework which applies to the Bank’s financing and lending. By doing so the Bank has pledged to use the capital it obtains on the credit markets through the Green Financing Framework to provide green loans to corporate and retail customers as defined in the framework. Furthermore, the Bank has prepared an impact and allocation report which sets out how this capital is used in green projects.
We have reported on the status and actions in environmental and climate issues since 2016. Total emissions of greenhouse gases from own operations, i.e. from vehicles and business premises, have decreased by 55.6% since 2015.
Arion has acquired carbon credits as mitigation measures for emissions and VAXA is now our latest partner. The units are integral to our mitigation measures for emissions from own activities in 2023, such as from business premises, vehicles, flights, waste and employee journeys to and from work.
VAXA Technologies
Árleynir 8
112 Reykjavík
Iceland
[email protected]
