Fifth Third’s longstanding leadership in sustainability in the financial services sector has earned the bank recognition by USA Today as among America’s Climate Leaders 2024.
The publication’s second annual rankings, published in partnership with Statista, Inc., provide a data-driven metric of companies that have significantly decreased their GHG emissions between 2020 and 2024. The list includes U.S. based companies with more than $50 million in revenue that reported their GHG emissions independently. To make the list, those companies must have reduced their emissions intensity (GHG emissions divided by revenue) by 3% year-to-year.
"Fifth Third has been focused on driving sustainability for more than a decade," said Pratik Raval, chief sustainability officer for Fifth Third. "We take a three-pronged strategic approach to addressing climate change through leading the transition to a sustainable future, managing climate-related risks, and reducing our environmental footprint. We are proud to be an industry leader in each of these areas."
Fifth Third has reduced greenhouse gas emissions in the areas of building operations, corporate transport and business travel by 48% since 2014. Fifth Third measures and reports on its corporate greenhouse gas emissions using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol methodology with third-party verification of its calculations.
In late August, Fifth Third also celebrated five years of 100% renewable power. This effort began with a virtual power purchase agreement with the Aulander Holloman solar facility in North Carolina. In 2023, the solar power generation from the facility was more than 190,000 megawatt hours – enough to power over 25,000 homes, or the equivalent of emissions from over 29,000 passenger vehicles.
Fifth Third has committed to reducing energy usage across its 11-state footprint by 40% by 2030. The bank exceeded that goal last year, achieving a 45% reduction in energy usage through improved use of space and the sustainability of new construction, renovation and facility-related operations and maintenance practices, including adding advanced building control technology to more than 600 locations.
"We are proud to have reduced our portfolio-wide energy usage by 45% over the past decade, and we continue to deploy new technologies and processes to help operate all of our facilities more efficiently," said Thomas Neltner, director of enterprise workplace services and chief security officer for Fifth Third.
As part of its sustainability commitment, Fifth Third has also set a target of providing $100 billion in environmental and social finance (sustainable finance) by 2030. The bank has provided $37.6 billion in sustainable finance to-date, including $1.3 billion in lending and capital-raising for renewable energy products in 2023, and continues to make progress towards the goal.