First Bank, Proparco partner on climate initiatives to reduce greenhouse emissions

First Bank of Nigeria has partnered with Proparco, a development finance institution, on climate initiatives to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.

In a statement, the bank said it is currently implementing a mechanism to calculate its operational emissions across all its branches and offices to determine innovative opportunities for operational emissions reduction.

“First Bank is intentional about redefining its climate footprint. We are identifying opportunities in climate finance to improve our portfolio and reduce the carbon emissions associated with our processes and operations,” Patrick Akhidenor, Ag. chief risk officer of FirstBank said in the statement.

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“The bank is executing a financed emissions calculation mechanism as well as creating climate finance opportunities, such as renewable energy and energy efficiency products for our customers,” he added.

According to the multinational bank and financial services company, it is calculating operational emissions across its branches and offices which includes calculating data on electricity use, diesel use, water consumption, waste management approach, fuel consumption, and business travels, to determine the bank’s emission baseline and innovative opportunities for operational emissions reduction.

The bank, in a two-day partnership strategy workshop session with IPC and Valoris, consultants from Austria were engaged by Proparco in the climate mainstreaming project.

FirstBank’s climate journey across all areas of implementation was reviewed to determine progress and empower strategic departments across the bank’s operations, including the credit risk teams; human capital management & development; FirstAcademy, the bank’s learning institute; corporate banking; personal banking; SME banking; procurement; branch operations and general services teams to deepen the understanding of climate risks in their processes.

The six workstreams for the implementation include identification of financed and avoided emissions to support reporting; supporting the measurement and analysis of operating emissions; integration of physical climate risk assessment; opportunity analysis; climate strategy and policy development; and capacity building amongst staff to support strategy implementation.

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“Amongst our various engagements with financial institutions on climate mainstreaming, First Bank is the only organisation that has been able to provide data both on the assets’ location of their portfolio and head offices of their clients. I am impressed with the progress we have collectively achieved,” Martin Steindl, managing director, of Valoris, Austria, said.