It has been ten years since we issued our first green bond, becoming the first Finnish credit institution to offer green finance to our customers. It has proven to be one of the best strategic decisions we have made.
Over the past ten years, the market for sustainable bonds has developed enormously, and so have we as an issuer. Today, the majority of the new financing we grant is sustainable, and our responsible offering has significantly broadened our global investor base.
At the same time, our customers have grown more ambitious and more capable in reducing their climate impacts and developing innovative solutions. Sustainability has become a key factor in their investment decisions.
In 2025, we revised our Green Bond Framework to further promote investments that advance sustainable development, to strengthen the role of municipalities in building a sustainable future, and to meet the expectations of investors, legislators, regulators and other stakeholders. The revision also supports our risk management objectives and expands green finance to include two new project categories: biodiversity and climate change adaptation.
The revised framework raises the bar with stricter and more ambitious criteria. Even with the tightened requirements, demand for new green finance remained steady throughout the year, and in 2025 we granted green finance to 123 new projects.
At the beginning of 2025, we also introduced a new sustainability-linked loan to complement our sustainable finance offering. Unlike green and social finance, this loan is not tied to specific projects. To qualify, municipalities must have a climate plan and meet their annual carbon emission reduction targets in line with their individual reduction pathway.
Although global sustainability targets have faced headwinds in the current international geopolitical situation, our commitment to sustainable finance remains a core strategic priority. This commitment has been further reinforced through the recent revision of our sustainability agenda and the introduction of new long-term sustainability targets.
Our employees, owners, Board of Directors and customers share a common ambition: to move decisively towards greater sustainability. We have made significant progress during the past decade but are aiming for more: in the next ten years, our goal is to halve the emissions associated with our municipal loan portfolio and to reduce the emissions intensity of financed buildings by more than 70 per cent. Climate-smart and energy-efficient investments that support biodiversity will help create a better and more sustainable everyday life for us all.
Joakim Holmström
Executive Vice President Capital Markets and Sustainability
This article was originally published in MuniFin’s Green Impact Report in April 2026, and is published here with minor edits.