Santander’s Cresud Financing Raises Questions About Net Zero Commitments

A new report by Global Witness has revealed that Spanish banking giant Santander has played a central role in financing Cresud, one of South America’s leading deforesters—despite public commitments to reach net zero emissions.

The investigation found Santander helped raise $1.3 billion for Cresud since 2011, underwriting over three-quarters of its bonds. This financing continued after the bank introduced a deforestation policy in 2018 and joined the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) in 2021. Global Witness links Cresud to the destruction of at least 170,000 hectares of carbon-rich forests, an area three times the size of Madrid, with estimated emissions equivalent to thirty million transatlantic flights.

Cresud and its subsidiary BrasilAgro have also been implicated in land conflicts with Indigenous communities. Still, they’ve secured sustainability certifications and are seeking carbon credits for remaining forested land. The report points out that Santander remains the EU’s top financier of “forest-risk” agribusinesses, lending over $600 million to such firms in 2024 alone.

This case reflects a broader pattern identified in a recent academic study by Parinitha Sastry (Columbia), Emil Verner (MIT Sloan), and David Ibanez (European Central Bank). Using two comprehensive datasets—including a euro-area credit registry and global bank lending data by sector and country—the researchers analyzed whether NZBA members change their lending practices or pressure borrowers to decarbonize. They found no evidence of either. Banks did not reduce exposure to high-emitting sectors or drive emissions reductions among clients. The authors conclude that net zero commitments have little real-world impact, functioning instead as greenwashing tools.

The Santander-Cresud case demonstrates the need for banks’ climate pledges to move from image to action—through binding policies, transparency, and accountability.

Source: globalwitness.org