Unity Trust Bank, a social impact bank, has launched a £100 million Green Tariff lending facility to support organisations undertaking energy-efficient projects. The initiative aims to make sustainable investment more accessible by offering favourable lending terms to both new and existing customers, enabling them to reduce emissions and future-proof their buildings. The launch aligns with the UK’s net-zero goals, addressing the fact that residential and commercial buildings contribute 20-21 per cent of the nation’s total carbon emissions.
The ringfenced funding is available for projects that improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon, such as installing low-carbon heating systems, enhancing insulation, deploying small-scale renewable energy, and implementing climate resilience measures. The tariff also rewards organisations that have already invested in sustainable practices, promoting further adoption of low-carbon strategies. Matt Conroy, head of impact propositions at Unity Trust Bank, emphasized the importance of supporting customers in transitioning to a low-carbon economy and highlighted the transparent, fair, and cost-effective nature of the new lending terms.
The Green Tariff builds on the success of the bank’s Retrofit Transition Initiative (RTI), launched in 2023, which focused on energy efficiency improvements in the UK’s social housing sector, benefiting over 1,770 homes. Unlike the RTI, the new tariff extends support to all of Unity’s customers across sectors, encouraging retrofit, decarbonisation improvements, energy efficiency upgrades, and clean energy technology adoption. The initiative also seeks to support organisations that have already enhanced their buildings’ energy performance, contributing to a broader low-carbon economy.
This launch reflects Unity Trust Bank’s 40-year commitment to social and environmental impact. The bank has set its own Net Zero target for 2045 and is a signatory of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. Unity avoids funding high-carbon or polluting industries and evaluates every loan for positive social, economic, or environmental outcomes, aligning projects with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The bank’s values-led approach to finance was recognized in 2024 with the King’s Award for Enterprise for Sustainable Development.
