Science-based targets
The targets covering greenhouse gas emissions from RBI’s operations (scopes 1 and 2) are consistent with reductions required to keep warming to well-below 2°C.
RBI's Science-based targets
This does not only support our efforts to limit global temperature rise, but also fits to our commitment to the Principles for Responsible Banking, according which we need to set targets in our two most significant negative impact areas, which are according to UNEP FI impact analysis tool “climate” and “resource efficiency”
The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The SBTi defines and promotes best practice in science-based target setting and independently assesses companies’ targets.
The Scopes
RBI’s SBTi Progress Report 2023
In compliance with yearly reporting obligations set out by the SBTi, RBI is disclosing its progress according to the Science Based Targets approved in September 2022.
Temperature Rating Targets
These targets are the most material for RBI as they cover the majority of the portfolio for which financed emissions are calculated. As of YE 2022, the on-balance exposure within Temperature Rating approach equaled EUR 65.6bn (87.2% of total exposure covered by Financed Emissions, and 31.7% of RBI Group’s Total Assets). As per initial approval, we calculate the portfolio temperature as of YE 2022 and split by product type (PCAF Asset Classes “Business Loans and Unlisted Equity” and “Listed Equity and Corporate Bonds”), as well as once taking only Scope 1 and 2 emissions and targets of investees, and once additionally considering their Scope 3 emissions and targets.
| Asset class | Total on Balance exposure under Temperature Rating approach (EUR bn) | Temperature Score: Scope 1 and 2 of clients in °C | Temperature Score: Scope 1, 2, and 3 of clients in °C |
| Business loans and unlisted equity | 58.12 | 3.11 | 3.20 |
| Corporate bonds and listed equity | 7.52 | 3.12 | 3.20 |
| Total Exposure under Temperature Rating approach | 65.64 |
For the bulk of our exposure (94.6%) and financed emissions under Temperature rating approach (87.8%), the fallback value of 3.2°C had to be used in the calculations. Given that the lack of data on clients’ targets might be driven by either data collection gaps or lack of targets, our strategy aims at both closing data collection gaps and supporting clients in underpinning their decarbonization ambitions by setting and disclosing official targets. More details are given below.
| Scope 1+2 | Asset Class | CO2e in % | Exposure in % |
| Publicly disclosed data | Business loans and unlisted equity | 11.7% | 5.0% |
| Corporate bonds and listed equity | 0.5% | 0.5% | |
| Total | 12.2% | 5.4% | |
| Fallback data | Business loans and unlisted equity | 87.3% | 83.6% |
| Corporate bonds and listed equity | 0.5% | 11.0% | |
| Total | 87.8% | 94.6% |
Since target approval, RBI has developed a step-by-step approach for its temperature rating customer engagement over the course of 2023. As a first step we focused on data analysis and the selection of top contributing corporate clients to RBI’s temperature rating, prioritizing top contributing clients, out of which an initial customer engagement proposal was developed with the respective Industry Leads within RBI’s Corporate Customers division. Here we follow a twofold approach: 1) customers where we are aware of existing CO2 reduction targets, but lack the relevant data needed for the Temperature Rating calculation tool; and 2) customers where we will enter into an engagement process, informing the client about our SBTi target and flagging the importance of CO2 reduction targets going forward.
For 2024, we plan to further implement ownership for the customer engagement plan within RBI. We believe that a material impact can be achieved by engaging and supporting clients in their own target setting and implementation journey rather than shifting business towards clients that are already aligned with Paris Agreement goals – especially considering the geographical footprint of RBI Group operations and its focus on regions where environmental topics might not rank so high on the political agenda as in western European countries. We understand that this is a lengthy process and that its outcome can only be visible with a time lag, and that achievement of our goals is dependent on clients’ own actions as well as data quality.
Sectoral Decarbonisation Approach
SDA targets cover a minority of our Scope 3 category 15 emissions. In total, SDA portfolios represent 12.8% of exposure covered by financed emissions calculations and 4.7% of RBI Group Total Assets as of YE 2022. Due to the small size of the financing activities within these portfolios (Project Finance – Commercial Real Estate, Project Finance - Electricity Generation, and Corporate Loans - Electricity Generation) the results are most sensitive to the still developing landscape of financed emissions calculations. We share these data challenges with most peers, as visible in frequent restatement of figures. We therefore abstain from disclosing the overly positive progress results obtained for these portfolios, as we believe they do not necessarily reflect actual changes in the portfolio characteristics but are driven by changes in the data used for the calculations in 2022 vs base year and by the still substantial data gaps. In accordance with SBTi, we have established an internal timeline for upgrading our financed emissions calculations further, and for filling external data gaps. This will allow a re-working of our SDA Targets over the course of 2024 and make them a solid guidance for steering the portfolios.