AIB doubles green and transition lending target to €60bn

AIB chief executive Colin Hunt said on Friday that the bank has doubled its 2030 green and transition lending target to €60 billion. The announcement was made by Hunt at the UN Climate Change Conference (Cop31) taking place in Antalya, Turkey. AIB has already deployed €28 billion in cumulative green and transition lending since 2019, equivalent to 93 per cent of its existing €30 billion target. The bank provided €6.3 billion in green and transition lending in 2025, accounting for 43 per cent of all new lending.

A further €5.3 billion was deployed in the first nine months of 2026, it said. “Banks have a critical role in turning climate ambition into practical action. That means financing renewable energy, helping households improve the energy efficiency of their homes and supporting businesses large and small as they make the transition,” said Hunt. “A sustainable economy will be a stronger, more competitive and more resilient economy.” AIB’s international climate capital business has been the fastest-growing division in recent years, which specialises in large renewable and infrastructure projects across Ireland, Britain, Europe and North America.

On the retail side of the bank, close to 60 per cent of the mortgage business written last year was for green loans – where the property has a building energy rating between A1 and B3. Housing: construction slowdown, price-to-income running at twice the EU average, and the rise of the approved housing body sector Listen | 35:14 Cop31 host Turkey is striving to place a proposal to expand global electrification at the centre of an eventual deal emerging from the latest annual conference, saying the plan will lead to emissions cuts by speeding the shift away from fossil fuel-powered cars, boilers and other equipment.

The proposal does not require the increased electricity use to come from renewable sources, although some countries, including last year’s Cop host Brazil, are advocating for progress on a plan to require countries to more clearly map out their transition away from fossil fuels. Big fossil fuel producers and consumers at the talks are resisting any deal that would specify firm new targets or a shift away from oil, gas and coal, ​observers said as the first week of talks drew to a close. – Additional reporting: Reuters