Our Green & Social Bond Programmes
Since 2016, we have been issuing Green Bonds that support the expansion of renewable energies. But that was not enough for us: in 2018 we issued our first Social Bond and in 2022 the first Berlin Social Housing Bond.
Green Bonds - We regularly issue green bonds
We issue green bonds that support environmentally friendly projects. Our many loans in renewable energies underlie our Green Bonds: With a loan volume of around EUR 14 billion (as of 31 December 2023), we are making a significant contribution to the energy transition in Germany.
In June 2016, we issued our first unsecured green bond. Since issuing our first green bond, we have successfully placed two more green bonds. With the green bond issuance in 2021, we reached a special milestone: we were one of the few banks to create a Green Bond Framework that complied with the then draft EU Green Bond Standard and met the strict requirements of the EU Taxonomy.
Social Bonds - First bank to launch a Green and Social Bond Programme
As an extension of our sustainable refinancing mix, we published our first social bond programme in September 2018, thus opening up another source of refinancing via the capital market. With our social bonds, we refinance loans that generate added value for our society. They come from our clients in the areas of housing, public supply, health & care, as well as education & research. We were the first bank in Germany to launch a Green Bond and a Social Bond programme. So far, we have issued 6 social bonds - including thematic bonds such as two Social Housing Bonds, the Berlin Social Housing Bond, the Blue Social Bond and a retail social bond for private customers.
Our third Social Housing Bond transaction in 2024 was a major success. The underlying assets for this transaction are DKB loans to municipal housing associations and housing cooperatives. The transaction was extremely well received and attracted a great deal of interest from investors. In particular, large-volume orders for dedicated ESG portfolios were activated. The bond was oversubscribed more than 2 times with a volume of EUR 500 million, a maturity of 12 years and a coupon of 2.875%.
Our bonds help save 480,000 metric tons of CO2
The Impact & Allocation Reporting measures the sustainable impact of projects refinanced with the help of our Green and Social Bonds. The DKB Green Bonds have contributed to saving more than 480,000 tonnes of CO2 per year through the wind and solar projects refinanced with them. This corresponds to the annual consumption of 350,000 2-person households, i.e. just under a city the size of Frankfurt am Main. With our social bonds, we have refinanced projects for 6 of the 17 "Sustainable Development Goals" with a volume of more than EUR 2 billion and thus strengthened these sustainable goals:
SDG 3 Health and well-being,
SDG 4 Quality education,
SDG 6 Clean water and sanitation,
SDG 10 Reduced inequalities,
SDG 11 Sustainable cities and communities,
SDG 16 Peace and justice.
All our documents and reports on our Green and Social Bonds at a glance
Green Bonds
Social Bonds
Impact & Allocation Report
ESG ratings confirm our integration of sustainability
The market for sustainable finance is growing fast. Our bonds are also in high demand for this reason. The ESG research & rating agency ISS-ESG currently gives us a "B-" rating. This corresponds to Prime Status, Decile Rank 1 and an "Industry Leaders" ranking among national and international commercial, state and regional banks (approx. 270 banks).
