Port of Spain, Trinidad, May 24, 2024: Republic Financial Holdings Ltd. (RFHL) announced today that it has achieved just over 67% of its pledge to lend and invest US$200 million in climate financing by the year 2025. The goal was initially set in 2021, following the Group becoming a signatory to the United Nation’s Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) and the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). This progress means that the Group has released over US$134 million to date as it strives to meet its US$200 million target.

Funding under this goal continues to be disbursed to individuals and businesses undertaking sustainability projects across the Group’s sixteen (16) subsidiaries within the Caribbean and Ghana. Some of the sustainability projects focus on clean energy maritime transport, energy efficiency, environmental protection, electric vehicles, green real estate, renewable energy, water management, waste management, and sustainable agriculture. Renewable energy has been the most popular category, garnering over US$98 million in loans and investments across the Group. This was followed by lending and investment of over US$15 million and US$9 million respectively in the areas of electric vehicles and sustainable agriculture.

To date, Barbados has been the leading subsidiary, lending over US$57 million, followed by Trinidad and Tobago, where the bank has lent US$35.6 million towards the US$200 million goal. Both Guyana and Ghana have made tremendous gains in the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency, with lendings of US$17.6 million and US$13.5 million, respectively.

Group President and CEO, Nigel Baptiste, expressed satisfaction, stating, “RFHL was the first indigenous financial institution in the Caribbean to set such an ambitious, climate-focused target. This is just the beginning of the Group’s sustainability journey and we remain fully committed to unlocking financing to support the attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which ultimately would lead to diversified economies and prosperity for the territories in which we operate.”