Municipality Finance Group operates to serve as a trusted, honest and ethical institution in the course of all of its activities and relationships, including customer and employment relationships, partnerships and other relations.
The purpose of this policy is to communicate MuniFin’s ethical operating principles to the company’s personnel. These principles apply to all personnel and must be followed in all operations.
In addition to complying with legislation, administrative regulations and internal policies and instructions, MuniFin’s management and employees are expected to perform their duties with due skill, care and honesty.
In 2023, the number of our social finance projects increased by over 40% from the year before. A growing awareness of sustainability matters coupled with increasing stakeholder expectations are pushing up the demand for our sustainable finance.
We approved 34 projects, the majority of which are welfare projects or housing solutions aimed at the most vulnerable population. It is safe to say that we are well on the way towards our goal.
Social finance can be granted to customers’ projects that produce widespread social benefits. In this report, we summarise the impact of our social finance projects.
2.2
EUR bn
Outstanding amount of social finance
3.1
billion
Number of user and patient visits
123
Number of social projects
4,488
Number of apartments for the most vulnerable population
Senior Specialist, sustainable finance
Rami Erkkilä:
“The principles of sustainable development are central to our social finance. They not only steer the direction of investments and financing, but also take the world towards a balanced and sustainable future where no one is left behind.”
Senior Specialist, sustainable finance
Rami Erkkilä:
“The principles of sustainable development are central to our social finance. They not only steer the direction of investments and financing, but also take the world towards a balanced and sustainable future where no one is left behind.”
Social finance project breakdown, number of projects
"Our social finance projects improve and safeguard the availability of services provided by the Finnish welfare state."
In 2023, the demand for our green finance grew substantially. Sustainable solutions are driven not only by environmental goals, but increasingly also by financial factors. The demand for our green finance reached a record high in 2023. We granted green finance to about 170 projects, almost 100 of which were by our housing sector customers.
Green finance is offered to selected projects that promote the transition to low-carbon and climate resilient growth. These projects seek to mitigate or adapt to climate change. In this Green Impact Report, we summarise the impact and calculation principles of our green finance projects in the year 2023.
4.8
EUR bn
Outstanding amount of green finance
81,366
tCO₂
Annual CO₂ emissions avoided/reduced
411
Number of green projects
51,736
MWh
Annual energy savings (avoided/reduced)
Senior Specialist, sustainable finance
Rami Erkkilä:
“It has been a real pleasure to witness our housing sector customers grow more and more ambitious. The residential buildings that they construct increasingly achieve energy class A, and they also demand energy-efficient solutions and comprehensively sustainable construction practices from their partners. Our housing sector customers experiment daringly with their material, energy and recycling solutions. (…) And they have done all this cost-effectively, with careful consideration for the environmental impact of the building’s entire life cycle.”
Senior Specialist, sustainable finance
Rami Erkkilä:
“It has been a real pleasure to witness our housing sector customers grow more and more ambitious. The residential buildings that they construct increasingly achieve energy class A, and they also demand energy-efficient solutions and comprehensively sustainable construction practices from their partners. Our housing sector customers experiment daringly with their material, energy and recycling solutions. (…) And they have done all this cost-effectively, with careful consideration for the environmental impact of the building’s entire life cycle.”
Green finance project breakdown, number of projects
“In the year 2023 we succeeded in improving the efficiency of our review process and the transparency of our criteria, which also reflected in our record-breaking results for the year. The main reason for the record-year, however, is the ambition and work of our customers and the gradual development of shared rules and practices in the market.”
Entitled Enabler of sustainable welfare in society, this sustainability agenda focuses on our business operations and the impact achieved through them.
The agenda s built around two main themes: foundation of the Finnish welfare society and driver of the green transition. In line with these themes, our goal is to support the development of a sustainable welfare society and promote investments that are friendly for the climate and environment.
In this sustainability agenda, we are now establishing clear and measurable long-term sustainability goals and indicators for the first time in our company’s history. By doing so, we are committing to integrating the themes of sustainable development even more tightly into our operations. We are committed to doing our best to achieve these goals. We will describe this work in our reports.
The financial sector plays a pivotal role in advancing both national and international sustainable development goals. By redirecting financial resources to more sustainable projects, financial sector organisations can drive significant positive change. MuniFin is committed to contributing to this mission within the context of its own sustainability work and operating environment.
MuniFin's sustainability agenda
Sustainability agenda themes
Foundation of the Finnish welfare society Enabling the foundation for a sustainable welfare state
Driver of the green transition Promoting investments that benefit the climate and environment
Sustainability agenda goals
By 2030, green and social finance account for at least one-third of our long-term customer finance portfolio
By 2035, financed emissions from buildings have an emission intensity of 8 kgCO2e/m2
Sustainability policy covers the ethics of MuniFin’s operations as well as the ESG aspects related to social responsibility and stakeholder needs. This context includes risks pertaining to the environment, climate, social responsibility and governance.
The purpose of this policy is to not only strengthen the positive impact, but also reduce and avoid the negative impact MuniFin has on society and the environment through its business operations, and to reduce the risks to which the company, its reputation and its employees are exposed.
MuniFin’s green finance is offered to selected projects that promote the transition to low-carbon and climate resilient growth. These projects seek to mitigate or adapt to climate change. In the Green Impact Report 2022, we summarise the impact of our green finance projects.
In 2022, MuniFin updated its Green Bond Framework. As part of the changes, we decided to start using only our own experts in project evaluation and incorporated EU Taxonomy requirements in the eligibility criteria. We believe this will increase our customers’ understanding of the objectives the EU seeks to achieve through the financial markets as part of its climate policy.
3.3
EUR bn
Outstanding amount of green finance
104,739
tCO₂
Annual CO₂ emissions avoided/reduced
263
Number of green projects
39,215
MWh
Annual energy savings (avoided/reduced)
Senior Specialist, sustainable finance
Rami Erkkilä:
“At the end of 2022, we had committed EUR 3,9 billion to financing our customers’ green projects and were steadily on our desired growth path. This is largely thanks to our highly committed customers, bold trailblazers who have chosen to open-mindedly adopt new solutions instead of settling for the old.”
Senior Specialist, sustainable finance
Rami Erkkilä:
“At the end of 2022, we had committed EUR 3,9 billion to financing our customers’ green projects and were steadily on our desired growth path. This is largely thanks to our highly committed customers, bold trailblazers who have chosen to open-mindedly adopt new solutions instead of settling for the old.”
Green finance project breakdown, number of projects
By the end of 2022, we have granted social finance to 86 projects in the social housing, welfare and education categories. The financed projects include major investments by organisations such as the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa, which affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of Finns on a daily basis. They also include projects that involve a smaller investment but have great significance on the lives of residents, patients, pupils, students and many other people in the project’s sphere of influence.
MuniFin’s social finance projects promote equality, communality, safety, welfare, or regional vitality. In this report, we summarise the impact of our social finance projects.
1.7
EUR bn
Outstanding amount of social finance
2.9
billion
Number of user and patient visits
86
Number of social projects
3,070
Number of apartments for the most vulnerable population
Senior Specialist, sustainable finance
Rami Erkkilä:
“The financed projects often take stakeholders comprehensively into consideration and communicate with future users openly and extensively already when the needs assessment is being conducted. Communal solutions, equal opportunities and the flexibility of facilities are important starting points in all projects. In social housing projects, it is vital to promote communality and independent living.”
Senior Specialist, sustainable finance
Rami Erkkilä:
“The financed projects often take stakeholders comprehensively into consideration and communicate with future users openly and extensively already when the needs assessment is being conducted. Communal solutions, equal opportunities and the flexibility of facilities are important starting points in all projects. In social housing projects, it is vital to promote communality and independent living.”
Social finance project breakdown, numbers of projects
