Green loans granted to non-financial companies remained on an upward trend in 2024, with an annual growth rate of 93% compared to September 2023, but represented 2.9% of bank exposure to companies, according to the document “Climate Risk Monitoring Scoreboard for the Romanian Banking Sector 2024”, done by the National Bank of Romania.
According to the NBR report, green loans represented 4.3% of the annual flow of loans to non-financial companies. The main destination of green loans is represented by green buildings, 54% of the total, according to Agerpres.
From a sectoral perspective, most green loans are directed to the real estate sector, 50% of the total, followed by utilities (18%) and manufacturing (10%).
In the case of the population, green loans reached approximately 10 billion lei in September 2024, +50% compared to September 2023, and represent 5.7% of the bank’s loan portfolio granted to this segment.
The value of green bond issuances worldwide recorded an increase of 6.5% at the end of November 2024 compared to the entire year 2023, but will remain below the historical maximum recorded in 2021. In Romania, seven green bond issuances were recorded in 2024, with a total value of 8.1 billion euros, the issuer of which was the Government of Romania.
The report notes that Romania recorded in 2022 a level of 41% of the 1990 emissions, the lowest value recorded in the last 24 years, falling within the target of reducing emissions by at least 55% compared to 1990 values assumed by the Paris Agreement. The increase in relevant investments in the field of decarbonizing the economy is likely to contribute to achieving the climate neutrality objective by 2050, given the decelerated pace of reducing GHG emissions (greenhouse gases – n.r.) in recent years.
Carbon use productivity and production-based carbon intensity continue to place Romania at a favorable level compared to countries in the region, with positive developments recorded in both indicators monitored by the OECD regarding the decarbonization of the economy. For Romania, carbon productivity measured as real GDP generated per unit of CO2 emitted was $8.41/kg compared to a regional average of $5.3/kg.
Renewable energy is above the regional or EU average, but the gap has narrowed significantly in the last four years. The most important type of renewable energy for Romania remains hydropower, which is however affected by increasingly frequent extreme weather events such as droughts.