Raiffeisen Bank has entered into agreement with Agreena in the field of carbon program
Raiffeisen Bank has entered into partnership agreements with European carbon farming company – Agreena (Denmark).
The bank's new partner is leading company that provide financial support to farmers adopting regenerative practices, including the generation of soil carbon credits. Agreena have years of successful experience collaborating with over 1,000 agribusinesses in Europe and monetizing carbon emission reductions on over 2 million hectares of farmlands.
Under this partnership, Raiffeisen Bank's agro clients will not only receive banking financing and professional support for the effective implementation of regenerative agricultural practices but also gain additional income from carbon credits generated with the support of Agreena.
The signed agreements play a significant role in advancing sustainable agriculture because healthy ecosystems provide substantial benefits for Ukraine while simultaneously supporting biodiversity, reducing emissions, protecting water resources, and enhancing the country's food security.
"The war in Ukraine has consequences not only for the economy and the shared future of all countries but also for Ukraine's environmental and food security. Among the main and important environmental problems increasingly occurring in Ukraine and reflected in the state environmental policy strategy are air pollution, depletion and deterioration of water resources, land degradation and erosion, climate change, loss of biodiversity, and so on. And we must address them without delay," said Larysa Bondarieva, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Raiffeisen Bank.
Raiffeisen Bank, with the largest credit portfolio in the agro sector, as part of its sustainable development strategy, promotes sustainable agriculture in Ukraine and supports its clients on their transition to regenerative agriculture. The bank aims to collaborate with foreign experts in carbon farming and leverage their experience and expertise to exchange with domestic agribusinesses.
“This project represents an important step for Agreena as we strive to ensure farmers receive the best possible reward for their regenerative transition. Agreena’s close engagement with farmers on its carbon programme, in combination with our cutting-edge, digital measurement, reporting, and verification (dMRV) capabilities, ensures we are able to provide the granular, verified field data that banks require to support their green lending programmes. Ukraine is Agreena’s largest market, making it a natural choice for the launch of this financial services solution project which should help make the case for sustainable farming ever stronger,” said Frederik Aagaard, Agreena’s Chief Commercial Officer.
Regenerative agriculture is "natural" soil-conserving technologies in agriculture that can help address environmental problems and mitigate the consequences of climate change, as their implementation not only produces quality food products without negative impact on the environment but also enriches the soil, increases biodiversity, and enhances the efficient use of natural resources.
Agreena unlocks the power of soil carbon removals and natural capital to finance the transition to regenerative agriculture. Working in close collaboration with partner farmers across 18 European markets and growing, AgreenaCarbon is Europe’s leading soil carbon program.
Combined with market-leading satellite monitoring technologies, Agreena’s solutions can support farmers, companies, and governments on the road to net zero.
Raiffeisen Bank was registered on March 27, 1992, and is the largest foreign-owned bank in Ukraine. Since October 2005, it has been part of the Austrian banking group Raiffeisen Bank International AG. As of December 31, 2023, the Raiffeisen Group owned 68.21% of the bank's shares, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development owned 30%. A wide range of banking services is provided to 2.65 million Raiffeisen Bank clients through a network of nearly 300 branches across Ukraine, as well as through the Raiffeisen Online and Raiffeisen Business Online applications and other remote channels available 24/7.
