Santander

InfluenceMap Score
for Sustainable Finance Policy Engagement
D+
Performance Band
61%
Organization Score
50%
Relationship Score

Sector:
Financials
Head​quarters:
Boadilla del Monte, Spain
Brands and Associated Companies:
Santander Asset Management
Official Web Site:
Wikipedia:

Sustainable Finance Lobbying Overview: Santander appears to have had a moderate amount of engagement on sustainable finance policy, with mixed positions which have become increasingly positive since 2019.

Top-line Messaging on Sustainable Finance Policy: Santander has stated support for a role for finance in meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement and net-zero by 2050, particularly as a member of the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). Santander has further advocated for action to achieve zero-carbon economies by 2050 in joint investor statements to governments in 2022 and 2021. In response to UK HM Treasury in 2022, it also supported the HM Treasury's proposal to update the regulatory principles for sustainable growth and refer to "climate change" and "net-zero economy". However, in a sector forum in May 2022, Santander CEO José Antonio Álvarez stated that it is not 'comfortable' being the 'climate police' and urged for more clarity from governments on what companies are expected to do.

Position on Regulated Corporate ESG and Climate Risk Disclosure: Santander has offered high-level support for sustainable finance policies in its Climate Finance reports. It stated high-level support for the EU taxonomy in its 2020-2021 Climate Finance report, as well as for the EU’s Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD). In a 2021 website article, Santander further supported the European Central Bank’s economy-wide climate stress tests. In its 2021-2023 Climate Finance reports, Santander further supported efforts in ESG-related disclosures, such as those being developed by the ISSB and EFRAG. In joint investor letters to governments in 2021 and 2022, Santander did support the mandatory implementation of the TCFD and 1.5 pathway-aligned transition plans. In the 2022 statement, it also advocated for mandatory climate risk disclosure and prudential risk supervision.

Position on a Taxonomy: In its 2023 Climate Finance Report, Santander encouraged policymakers to simplify the EU Taxonomy framework in a way that "banks and non-financial companies alike can implement the requirements in a more straightforward way". However, in a shareholders meeting in 2022, Ana Botín, Chairman at Santander, called for the EU to define the classification of investments to define net-zero aligned lending as soon as possible.

Position on Other Sustainable Finance Policies: In its 2021 CDP response, Santander disclosed it worked very closely with industry associations, including the Institute of International Finance (IIF), European Financial Services Round Table, the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), and the European Banking Federation (EBF) on a number of policies with a “support with minor exceptions” position, such as the EU Taxonomy, the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and identification of climate risks. In its 2022 CDP response, Santander disclosed that it is engaging with industry associations on their positions on the EU Green Bond Standard with a supportive position. In a meeting with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in the US, Santander, as a constituent of the Bank Policy Institute, outlined challenges to draft principles for climate-related financial risk management.

Transparency: In several of its Climate Finance reports, Santander has stated it is engaging on a number of relevant sustainable finance policies, but only describing policy positions in broad terms. It also does not appear to disclose all material evidence of direct sustainable finance policy engagement identified by InfluenceMap's database. It has also published a partial account of its industry associations' positions and engagement activities on specific sustainable finance policies in its own reporting. However, it does not provide an account for more than 3 industry associations which are actively engaged on sustainable finance policy, including the IIF, the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA), Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) and UK Finance.

QUERIES
DATA SOURCES
NS1NSNSNSNSNS
22NSNSNS10
0NS01-2NSNS
121NS21NS
110NSNS1NS
0NS1NSNSNSNS
0NS0NSNSNSNS
121-1NS1NS
1NANANANANANA
-1NANANANANANA
Strength of Relationship
STRONG
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
WEAK
 
41%
 
41%
 
26%
 
26%
 
54%
 
54%
 
60%
 
60%
 
48%
 
48%
 
54%
 
54%
 
58%
 
58%
 
60%
 
60%
 
27%
 
27%
 
53%
 
53%
 
51%
 
51%
 
54%
 
54%
 
82%
 
82%

How to Read our Relationship Score Map

In this section, we depict graphically the relationships the corporation has with trade associations, federations, advocacy groups and other third parties who may be acting on their behalf to influence climate change policy. Each of the columns above represents one relationship the corporation appears to have with such a third party. In these columns, the top, dark section represents the strength of the relationship the corporation has with the influencer. For example if a corporation's senior executive also held a key role in the trade association, we would deem this to be a strong relationship and it would be on the far left of the chart above, with the weaker ones to the right. Click on these grey shaded upper sections for details of these relationships. The middle section contains a link to the organization score details of the influencer concerned, so you can see the details of its climate change policy influence. Click on the middle sections for for details of the trade associations. The lower section contains the organization score of that influencer, the lower the more negatively it is influencing climate policy.