Bank of America announced that it mobilized and deployed approximately $250 billion in sustainable finance activity for 2021, an all-time high and a significant increase over 2020 levels. As part of Bank of America’s $1.5 trillion by 2030 sustainable finance goal announced last April, the company has made tremendous progress towards mobilizing and scaling capital deployment to drive environmental and social change in line with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

“Our sustainable finance strategy permeates every aspect of how we deliver for our clients, employees and communities, and we are committed to a more inclusive, net zero society for all. Our sustainable finance focus is long-standing and continues to play a catalytic role in scaling our environmental transition and inclusive social development goals across the globe,” said Paul Donofrio, Vice Chair of Bank of America. “As a financial institution, we are leveraging the power of our size, expertise and the capital markets to mobilize more investments and financings to address these global challenges and opportunities.”

Bank of America provides lending, capital raising, advisory and investment services, along with other financial and risk management solutions, for clients transitioning to a low-carbon, inclusive economy. The company continues to expand and innovate its environmental sustainable finance activities and offerings, including increased asset-based financing, advisory and capital raising activities for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects; sustainable transportation with an emphasis on electric vehicles and sustainable fuels; sustainable food and agriculture; clean water and sanitation; and carbon capture and voluntary and compliance carbon offset solutions. Bank of America also continues to drive inclusive social development, with a focus on affordable housing, healthcare, education, digital and financial inclusion as well as more access to capital for minority and women-led businesses and underserved communities.

“Finance with a purpose is a powerful tool for driving social and environmental change. Through our work with internal stakeholders, external alliances, and other partners, we are making tangible and meaningful progress towards achieving a more sustainable future,” said Karen Fang, Global Head of Sustainable Finance at Bank of America. “While there is still much more to do, our significant increase in firm wide sustainable activity last year demonstrates our commitment and ability to lead by example. Whether it’s our work in developed or emerging markets, on mature or new technologies, on climate change or social equity, our sustainable finance efforts are always focused on finding new and innovative ways to increase the amount of capital that is flowing to where it is needed the most.”

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Key highlights of 2021 sustainable finance activities, as outlined in Bank of America’s 2021 Annual Report, include:

Environmental Transition

• Set a goal to deploy and mobilize $1.5 trillion of capital in sustainable finance by 2030 to deliver for both environmental transition ($1 trillion out of the total goal) and inclusive social development
• Set a goal to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions in financing activities, operations and supply chain before 2050
• Underwrote $47.1 billion in ESG-themed bonds on behalf of more than 182 clients in 2021
• Continued to be a top renewable energy tax equity investor since 2015 with a portfolio of approximately $12 billion, as of year-end 2021; historically, Bank of America’s investments have contributed to the development of approximately 16% (38 gigawatts) of the total installed renewable wind and solar energy capacity in the U.S.

Inclusive Social Development

• Issued a second $2 billion Equality Progress Sustainability Bond, broadening the scope of the target populations to include women and Asian American, Pacific Islander and Indigenous peoples, along with Black/African American and Hispanic-Latino populations, under Bank of America’s ESG-themed Issuance Framework; with this offering, Bank of America has issued close to $12 billion across 9 green social and sustainability bonds since 2013
• Tripled the Bank of America Community Homeownership Commitment® to $15 billion through 2025 with a goal of helping 60,000 low- and moderate-income (LMI) individuals and families to purchase a home
• Provided a record $6.6 billion in loans, tax credit equity investments and other real estate development solutions through Community Development Banking to finance affordable housing and economic development; between 2005 and 2021, over 227,000 affordable housing units were financed
• Originated over $400 million in loans and investments, raising Bank of America’s total portfolio to over $2 billion extended to Community Development Financial Institutions that finance affordable housing, economic development, small businesses, health care centers, charter schools and other community services
• Committed more than $450 million, including more than $300 million to over 100 equity funds, to provide capital to diverse entrepreneurs and small business owners and $25 million to 21 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions and community colleges as part of Bank of America’s $1.25 billion, five-year commitment to advance racial equality and economic opportunity

Furthermore, to better unlock the power of the private sector to more effectively mobilize and catalyze capital, Bank of America joined a number of coalitions in 2021 focused on collaborating to help accelerate the clean energy transition, including the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, the First Movers Coalition, the World Economic Forum (WEF) Clean Skies for Tomorrow Coalition, the Guidehouse Consortium for Clean Hydrogen, and the WEF’s Natural Climate Solutions (NCS) Investment Accelerator.

Source: Bank of America