Triodos Bank highlights the importance of financing models that support community energy, decentralised ownership and projects that improve affordability and resilience, particularly for households facing energy poverty. The bank pays close attention to demand side solutions, such as energy efficient buildings, sustainable mobility and systems that reduce energy use rather than simply making it marginally more efficient. 

Ten years, one percent

To underline why these sharper financing choices and a stronger focus on cutting demand are urgent, the bank warns that fossil fuels still dominate the global energy system and that the transition remains far off track. This is essential ahead of the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta Colombia, co-hosted by the Netherlands. Large flows of public and private finance continue to support fossil fuels, locking in emissions and delaying change. In 2013, fossil fuels made up about 81% of the world’s energy supply. A decade later, that number only dropped to around 80%.

Concrete national phase-out policies needed after “Santa Marta”

“This percentage makes one thing clear: we cannot call this a phase-out yet,” says Jacco Minnaar, CCO at Triodos Bank. “We have picked much of the low hanging fruit in the energy transition, but the harder transformation, reducing structural dependence on fossil fuels across heating, industry, transport and consumption, still lies ahead. At the start of this essential conference in Colombia, Triodos Bank stresses that global ambition must be matched by concrete national phase-out policies and financial signals that make the transition predictable, affordable and socially just.”

Four pillars for accelerating the energy transition

In the vision paper, the bank also sets out how the global energy transition must move beyond incremental change and deliver a clean, reliable, independent and fair energy system. Replacing fossil fuels with renewables alone is not enough. The next phase of the energy transition must also address rising energy demand, use of scarce materials, grid resilience and social fairness. 

Triodos Bank outlines four interconnected actions that together define what a successful energy transition requires: 

• Clean supply: scaling renewable energy while protecting biodiversity and strengthening responsible supply chains.
• Reliable supply: investing in storage, grid flexibility and resilient infrastructure to support a renewables based system.
• Demand reduction: addressing rebound effects and reducing overall energy and material use, particularly in advanced economies.
• Fair and inclusive access: ensuring affordability, local ownership and access to clean energy for households and communities worldwide.

The bank emphasises that progress on one pillar depends on progress in all others, and that finance and public policy play a decisive role in aligning these elements.

A call for consistent policies and system change

Alongside its financing role in the energy transition, Triodos Bank also calls for consistent, long term policy frameworks that provide clarity for households, businesses and investors. The bank warns that policy inconsistency, for example in residential heating and energy taxation, creates uncertainty that slows down investment and locks people into fossil based choices. Public policy should make clean energy affordable, support local communities, make polluters pay their true cost and set clear end dates for fossil fuels.  

Enquiries

Ed Grattan  
T: 0117 311 0241  
[email protected]   

About us

Founded in 1980, Triodos Bank is a frontrunner in impact finance. As an independent, mission-driven bank, Triodos Bank uses money consciously to create positive change, demonstrating that caring for people and planet goes hand in hand with healthy financial returns.  

Triodos Bank is the only B-Corp certified bank listed on Euronext Amsterdam. The bank operates in the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, Spain and Germany, with Investment Management activities based in the Netherlands and active globally.  

Triodos Bank co-founded the Global Alliance for Banking on Values, a network of 70 sustainable banks worldwide. Together these banks work on growing a financial system that supports the real economy and delivers lasting social and environmental impact. 

Triodos Bank has a full banking licence and is registered with De Nederlandsche Bank N.V. (the Dutch central bank) and the Autoriteit Financiële Markten (the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets). Most recent company information is available on Triodos Bank’s website: www.triodos.com 

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