ESG Embedded in Everyday Commercial Banking

ESG initiatives have become a central focus for financial institutions worldwide, driven by regulatory expectations, investor pressure and corporate sustainability commitments. The banking industry's main net zero coalition, launched in 2021, grew to nearly 150 banks representing more than 40% of global banking assets, pledging to align lending and investment portfolios with a net-zero pathway by 2050.

The landscape has since become more complex. In October 2025, the coalition voted to cease operations after losing many members amid allegations from some U.S. lawmakers that membership breached antitrust rules, although its target-setting guidance remains publicly available to banks. Disclosure requirements continue to advance. In California, regulators approved implementing rules in February 2026 that set 10 August 2026 as the first reporting deadline for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions under SB 253, while a federal appeals court has paused enforcement of the companion climate-risk law, SB 261. Internationally, frameworks such as the EU's CSRD and the ISSB standards keep driving climate disclosure.

Banks are increasingly integrating ESG considerations into lending, investment decisions and customer engagement, while preparing for both domestic and international reporting requirements.

A leading U.S. commercial bank wanted to structure the ESG implementation program of its Commercial Banking line of business, so that its public sustainability commitments would become part of business as usual. The bank needed to:

• Structure a comprehensive ESG implementation program across Commercial Banking.
• Calculate, track and report financed emissions and sustainable financing activities.
• Develop a customer strategy and a sales enablement approach to identify and act on net zero opportunities.
• Prepare for regulatory and legislative impacts, including domestic and international reporting and disclosure requirements.
• Integrate ESG into daily operations so that adoption lasts.

Sia structured the ESG implementation program for the Commercial Bank, aligned it with the bank's public sustainability commitments and designed it to transition into business as usual. The work covered:

• ESG program design: processes, governance and workflows to embed ESG considerations across the Commercial Banking line of business.
• Financed emissions and sustainable financing: an approach to calculate and track financed emissions and sustainable finance activity.
• Customer strategy: integration of sustainability into how the bank engages and serves its commercial clients.
• Sales enablement: preparing commercial teams to identify and pursue net zero opportunities with clients.
• Regulatory readiness: continued support to prepare the Commercial Bank for regulatory and legislative impacts, including domestic and international reporting and disclosure requirements.

The program gave the Commercial Banking line:

• A structured ESG program embedded in the business rather than run alongside it.
• Approaches to calculate and track financed emissions and sustainable financing.
• A commercial approach, combining customer strategy and sales enablement, to support clients through their own transitions.
• Ongoing support to prepare for reporting and disclosure requirements across jurisdictions.

By combining climate expertise, commercial pragmatism and regulatory foresight, Sia helps banks turn sustainability ambitions into lasting business practices that can adapt as markets and rules evolve.