Nordea issued EUR 3.6 billion in sustainable bonds during 2024, spanning four currencies and encompassing green bonds, green covered bonds and sustainability-linked loan bonds. The issuance brought the Nordic bank's total outstanding sustainable funding above EUR 14 billion by the end of the year, according to its sustainable funding report for 2024.
The figures, published by the bank in June 2025, place Nordea among the most active issuers of sustainable debt instruments among European banks over the period. The breadth of instruments used — covering both unsecured green bonds and covered formats alongside SLL bonds — reflects an effort to reach different investor pools across the sustainable fixed-income market.
FOUR-CURRENCY ISSUANCE BROADENS INVESTOR REACH
Issuing across four currencies is a deliberate strategy for a bank of Nordea's scale and funding profile, enabling it to access euro, sterling, US dollar and other currency-denominated investor bases where appetite for sustainable instruments has been growing. The covered bond component is particularly significant given the depth of the European covered bond market and the strong demand from insurance companies and central banks for high-quality liquid assets with a sustainable label.
Nordea's green bond framework, which governs the allocation of proceeds from its green issuances, is reviewed annually. The most recent review took place in March 2025, according to the bank's sustainable funding presentation for the fourth quarter of 2024. Regular framework reviews are considered best practice under the ICMA Green Bond Principles and signal to investors that the bank's eligibility criteria remain current and responsive to evolving market standards.
The bank's sustainable funding programme covers a range of asset categories, including renewable energy, green buildings and clean transportation. The expansion of the green covered bond format in particular has attracted strong demand from investors who combine a preference for the covered bond's dual-recourse structure with a mandate to allocate capital to instruments meeting defined environmental criteria.
GROWING SUSTAINABLE BALANCE SHEET
Crossing EUR 14 billion in total outstanding sustainable issuance is a marker of the cumulative momentum Nordea has built in this market over several years of consistent activity. For the bank's treasury and funding teams, maintaining that stock requires ongoing new issuance to replace maturing instruments, meaning that the EUR 3.6 billion printed in 2024 effectively represents both growth and refinancing of existing positions.
The Nordic banking market has been among the most active in Europe for sustainable finance, with regional peers including Danske Bank, SEB and DNB also maintaining substantial sustainable issuance programmes. Nordea's scale as the largest Nordic bank by assets means its activity sets a benchmark for the region, and its annual reporting on sustainable funding serves as a reference document for investors tracking the bank's ESG progress.
Looking at the broader issuance context, 2024 saw continued strong investor demand for sustainable bonds across European capital markets despite some normalisation in the so-called greenium — the yield differential between green and conventional bonds of equivalent credit quality. Nordea's ability to place EUR 3.6 billion across multiple formats and currencies in that environment reflects both the bank's funding strength and the depth of demand for its paper among sustainable-mandate investors.