Investing directly in nature
With the world experiencing challenges to both global climate and biodiversity, Atom bank’s climate-positive strategy is also supported by direct investment in natural capital:
Poppy’s Wood: In 2024 the bank purchased 25 acres of newly planted broadleaf woodland in Northumberland. This land is projected to sequester nearly 7,000 tonnes of CO2 over its lifetime, which is equivalent to the entire amount of operational carbon the bank has produced since it was founded in 2014 up until 2024. This direct ownership model allows the bank to efficiently generate high-quality, controllable carbon credits and is the basis for looking again at how banks can use the unique status that they enjoy as lenders and the size of their balance sheets to grow more natural capital assets.
Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG): In the UK there is a requirement on developers of new housing or commercial developments to create at least 110% of any loss in biodiversity from their development activity. This is measured as Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and a system of credits has been established for developers to buy into if they cannot create new habitats on their own land. Atom bank’s core lending activity is to support families to own their own homes and businesses to grow their firms – and so seeing new houses and new offices and factories being built is key to their success.
But like so many others, Atom also wants these developments to happen without an impact on nature, and so Atom is using its core lending business to provide crucial capital to accelerate the emerging market for BNG credits. By funding the creation of habitat banks, such as a 20-hectare site in Cambridgeshire and a 38-hectare site in Northampton in areas of rapid housing growth, it is directly supporting the creation and protection of new habitats while helping to unlock much-needed housing in the UK.
As Edward Twiddy, Director of ESG and co-founder at Atom bank, noted: “We believe it is possible – and in fact essential – to be sustainable both financially and environmentally. The 22% reduction in our operational emissions since last year is the result of positive initiatives spearheaded by teams across all areas of the bank. Our data-driven challenge to the standard models of using EPCs to estimate emissions comes from a desire to show everyone that it is possible for banks to support the nation’s net zero goals, and our push to promote markets in nature and Biodiversity Net Gain supports the UK’s ambition to build homes for all that are not at the expense of the future. We’re a small but growing part of UK banking, and very proud that we are providing some real examples of sustainable banking.”
BBVA invested in Atom ten years ago when it had just launched as the UK’s first mobile-only bank. Today, BBVA is its main shareholder and considers its stake in Atom a strategic investment that enables it to stay connected with purely digital banking models, share knowledge, and learn from its innovation and sustainability strategies.