Danske Bank launches new £35m Agri Sustainability Fund

DANSKE Bank has announced the launch of a new £35m Agri Sustainability Fund to support agri-business customers with the introduction of sustainability initiatives and the transition to net-zero.

The initial focus of the fund will be on ‘on-farm’ renewables such as the installation of solar panels, wind turbines, battery storage systems, anaerobic digesters and other tech-nologies which aim to reduce emissions while also addressing the impacts of rising energy costs.

The fund will be supported on the ground by newly appointed Agri Sustainability Manager Paul Clingan. A career banker with 30 years’ experience at Danske Bank, Paul has worked in various roles, both in retail and business banking, and has been a key member of the agri team at Danske Bank for the past 15 years.

Danske Bank’s new fund is also designed to help agri customers accelerate their climate transition journey by enabling them to tap into the resource and expertise available within the bank’s in-house sustainability team.

Rodney Brown, Head of Agribusiness at Danske Bank UK, said: “This fund marks the next step in Danske Bank’s commitment to help our customers become more sustainable. Many of our agri-business customers know they need to act and we believe that as their bank, with our own sustainability team here in Belfast, that we are well placed to help them put their plans into action.

“We have set ourselves a target of being operationally net zero by 2030 – but it will be through supporting the sustainability approach of our customers that we will make the greatest impact.”

Paul Clingan, Agri Sustainability Man-

ager at Danske Bank, added: “Sus-tainability issues are increasingly a key feature of the conversations I have been having with our agri and farming customers. Many want to introduce more sustainable technologies into their working practices and this new fund aims to encourage and support them to make those good intentions a reality.

“I look forward to speaking with many more customers about how the Agri Sustainability Fund could not only benefit the environment but also provide a boost to their business at a time when costs for energy and materials is high.”