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Supporting Corporates, Financial Institutions, Sovereigns, Supranationals & Agencies (SSAs), municipalities, the public sector and housing associations through every step of their sustainability journey to create a greener, fairer and more inclusive economy.

Climate, ESG and Sustainable Finance

NatWest Markets Securities Inc. (NWMSI) is a registered broker-dealer located in Stamford, Connecticut, USA. Securities business in the United States is conducted through NatWest Markets Securities Inc. a FINRA registered broker-dealer, a SIPC member and a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of NatWest Markets Plc. 

NatWest helps you stay at the forefront of environmental, social and governance developments and opportunities

At NatWest we champion the potential of our customers, helping them to thrive. Whether an issuer or an investor, we help customers achieve their green and sustainability ambitions by integrating ESG factors across our product spectrum. The financial sector has a critical role to play in tackling climate change and societal issues, as well as supporting our customers transition pathways.

We’re determined to lead the way in ESG advisory, all forms of sustainability debt, and ESG-Linked ancillary solutions. And, we will continue to underpin our work with thought leadership and content, complemented by our desk and macro strategists.

How we support our customers

Through a wide range of sustainable finance and advisory solutions, we support customers to become part of a low carbon economy and just society.

Our Chief Executive Alison Rose said: “Climate change is one of the most important challenges of our time. We’re helping our business and personal banking customers to understand and reduce their carbon footprints through partnerships like Project Carbon. Reaching net zero is a global effort and I am pleased we are working across the industry to support our customers and help tackle the climate challenge.”

 

What we could offer you

We have dedicated teams with the industry expertise to provide bespoke solutions to different customer groups, from large to medium sized corporates and institutions.

Our skills

We have experience across a wide range of products and services, including:

  • All forms of sustainability debt across the credit spectrum, including high yield
  • Sustainability-linked debt, both bonds and loans
  • Green and Social securitisation
  • ESG reporting and disclosure support
  • Sustainable marketing strategies
  • ESG-related investor engagement
  • ESG rating advisory

We have a strong track record in structuring and placing all forms of sustainability debt across a range of sectors, countries and formats:

  • Leading Bookrunner of sustainable debt in the Global Capital Markets
  • #1 lead manager of sterling-denominated Green, Social and Sustainability (GSS) issuance
  • #1 lead manager of sterling-denominate Green bonds globally
  • #3 lead manager for Social bonds across currencies globally

We are externally recognised as a leading lender to the UK renewables sector by number of transactions over the past 10 years. In 2020, NatWest Group was ranked 1st in UK project finance renewables lending.

Sources: Dealogic, Bloomberg, Inframation Deals League Table (as at H1 2021)

Our Purpose-led focus on Climate

Climate is a key priority within our Purpose and is something that we are making notable progress against. In 2020 and throughout the first half of 2021, NatWest has made notable commitments and advances regarding our climate propositions and approaches:

  • We became the first major UK bank to join the Partnership for Carbon Accounting (PCAF), underlining our commitment to measuring and reducing our climate impact in accordance with the 2015 Paris Agreement
  • We have joined the Science Based Targets initiatives (SBTi), following the launch of its guidance to support financial institutions in aligning lending and investment activities with the 2015 Paris Agreement
  • We have established a Climate Centre of Excellence to help us achieve our climate ambitions and deliver on our purpose-led strategy
  • We achieved Net Zero carbon on our own direct operations in 2020, and we remain committed to making them Climate Positive by 2025

  • We are proud to be a principal partner and the banking sponsor of the UN’s COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021
  • We provided £21.5bn for Climate and Sustainable Financing in H1 2021, surpassing our 2020/2021 target of £20bn. We also announced a revised target of £100bn for 2025.
  • We have reduced our exposure to the oil & gas sector by a further 15.7% in H1 2021 to £3.5bn
  • We included climate goals in Executive and ExCo remuneration 2020, and have updated those for 2021

Our advancement of other sustainability and societal goals

  • We have a public commitment to provide £3bn of funding to the UK’s affordable housing sector by the end of 2022. In February, NatWest Group issued a €1bn affordable housing social bond, the first of its kind by a UK bank, to support with this ambition
  • We were a key contributor to the UK Housing Association Sustainability Reporting Standards, which aims to bring a consensus on how to measure and report on ESG performance in the social housing sector
  • We’re passionate supporters of UK enterprise and offer a wide range of services to start ups and entrepreneurs, including female led businesses for which we established a dedicated £2bn debt fund
  • 26% of 725 businesses that we on-boarded to the Entrepreneur Accelerator in the current cohort have sustainable activity as their core offering

To find out more about how we are building a bank led by its Purpose, click here.

Sustainable Insights and Content

We believe that building market momentum for sustainability, and driving broader education of climate change and ESG, is of paramount importance. So, to support with this, we are continually sharing ESG thought leadership with our corporate and institutional customers and the wider public. 

Our resident ESG specialists produce a breadth of content and insights, breaking down the key updates in ESG regulation, institutional developments, reporting and ratings. We also have a selection of flagship series, that cover a range of topics. Our flagship series include: The Road to COP26, Issue Your Greens and more.

To access all our insights and stay informed as to when new insights are posted, please visit the insights page or Agile Markets and follow our social channels: 

An active voice in the industry

We are involved with a range of industry bodies that support the transition to a low carbon economy as well as the development of the sustainable finance market to ensure a strong and robust market for all participants. These include amongst others:

  • ICMA Working Group Climate Transition Finance
  • ICMA Working Group Sustainability-Linked Bonds
  • ICMA Working Group Social Bonds

  • AFME Sustainable Securitisation Working Group
  • AFME Sustainable Finance Steering Committee
  • AFME Sustainable Transition Bond Working Group
  • AFME EU Social and Expanded Taxonomy

  • The London Stock Exchange (LSE) Sustainable Bond Market Advisory Group (SBMAG)

  • GFMA Sustainable Finance Working Group

  • SIFMA Sustainable Finance Working Group

  • ASIFMA Sustainable Finance Working Group