Landsbankinn has become a member of the Partnership for Biodiversity Accounting Financials (PBAF), an association working to enable financial institutions to assess and disclose impact and dependencies on biodiversity of loans and investments. In total 47 financial institutions around the world have joined PBAF, with Landsbankinn as the first Icelandic actor to join.
PBAF is an affiliate of Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) which created a methodology that enables financial institutions to measure and analyse emissions from their credit and asset portfolios.
Lilja Björk Einarsdóttir, CEO of Landsbankinn:
“Before PCAF, financial institutions had no co-ordinated methodology to guide the assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from their loans and investments. PCAF’s carbon accounting method filled this gap and is increasingly receiving international recognition as the best standard to account for emissions. It is our belief that the methodology currently under development by PBAF will become as important in assessing the impact of lending and investment by financial institutions on biodiversity.
It is important for all to contribute to responsible use of the Earth’s resources to ensure future prosperity for both individuals and companies. We strongly expect that PBAF will develop tools to allow us to analyse the main problem areas in this field. This will let us identify opportunities and areas where we can make the most positive contribution to the conservation of biodiversity for the future.”
More about PCAF and the Bank’s carbon footprint
Landsbankinn became a member of PCAF in 2019. A representative from the Bank actively participated in shaping and developing the carbon accounting methodology of PCAF based on close collaboration between financial institutions and scientists. EU requirements on climate issue disclosures by financial institutions are based largely on PCAF’s methodology and the assessment of transition and climate risk relies for the most part on data from PCAF on emissions from credit and asset portfolios.
Our own operation, i.e. the operation of office buildings, bank branches, computer systems and other similar factors, is a mere fraction of the total environmental impact the Bank’s operational platform. The real impact is from our lending and investment activity. The same applies to the Bank’s impact on biodiversity.
