3.8) Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all
In 2016, Citi helped the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm) to raise $500 million through a 3-year Vaccine Bond that gave investors the opportunity to fund children’s immunization programs by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. This is IFFIM’s third transaction in the public markets and is an example of how Citi is working to help its clients leverage the capital markets to support social and environmental progress. The proceeds of this social thematic bond will enable Gavi to protect millions of children in the world’s poorest countries against preventable diseases through low-cost vaccines.
5.5) Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life
In 2017, Citi helped the IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, issue a 3-year, $500 million inaugural Social Bond to expand financing for projects that benefit women-owned enterprises and low-income communities in emerging markets. A portion of the proceeds from the bond was used to support financial institutions that offer loans to female entrepreneurs to enable women to get access to financing. The IFC’s Social Bond Program builds upon its Banking on Women Bond Program, which has raised $268 million since 2013, as well as its Inclusive Business Bond Program, which has raised $296 million since 2013. In addition, to affirm Citi’s own deep, long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion and to helping women-owned businesses grow and succeed, Citi hired seven women-owned broker-dealers to lead the distribution of Citi’s $2.5 Billion Citibank, N.A. bond issuance in March 2017. This demonstrated the role that Citi is playing in promoting diversity in the capital markets and the economy.
7.2) By 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix
Citi’s $100 Billion Environmental Finance Initiative is a goal to lend, invest and facilitate $100 billion over ten years to activities focused on environmental solutions and reducing the impacts of climate change globally. Activities supporting renewable and efficient energy generation is a major contributor of that goal. Citi products and services help its clients reduce or avoid Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions through financing for clean energy and energy efficiency projects. The company also invests in client efforts to develop projects, technologies and services that reduce greenhouse gas and other emissions. Wind and solar projects account for $8.9 billion or 38% of the first year’s total of $23.6 billion. Citi's Alternative Energy Finance team, which financed 1,650,700 KW of renewable energy generation capacity in 2014 in the US, which avoided 2,795,164.09 metric tons of CO2 emissions for the year, or the equivalent of energy needed to power 458,419 homes. Citi also helped finance Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s $2.75 billion, 579 MW Solar Star project in California.
7.3) By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency
Citi is leading the way in designing new vehicles to finance and scale energy efficiency for corporations, governments and homeowners, by aggregating pools of projects. For example, Citi is a leading collaborator on the Warehouse for Energy Efficiency Loans (WHEEL), a national, U.S. public-private financing platform that brings lower cost capital to public-sponsored residential energy efficiency loan programs. Serving as the capital markets partner, warehousing and securitizing loans, the company has worked and continues working with state and local governments (including Pennsylvania, Kentucky and New York), the Department of Energy, and various nonprofits to facilitate adoption of this approach. Citi is supporting research to see how the company can expand energy efficiency financing in other markets.
8.6) By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training
In March 2014, the Citi Foundation launched Pathways to Progress, an effort to boost the career readiness of 100,000 young people in 10 major cities across the United States. This signature initiative builds upon Citi and the Citi Foundation’s longtime efforts to support youth economic opportunity through college savings and readiness programs, by directly addressing the root causes of youth unemployment. The company partners with a wide range of stakeholders including urban policymakers, private sector organizations and community leaders nationwide, the program identifies and recruits promising young people from low-income families to take part in entrepreneurship training, leadership and service opportunities, mentoring relationships and summer jobs. In the first year, nearly 25,000 youth have already benefited from Pathways to Progress.
9.1) Develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and transborder infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all
There is an enormous social need for infrastructure investments, which have the capacity to improve the lives of those living in underserved areas and stimulate local economies. As much as $59 trillion in global infrastructure investment will be needed over the next 15 years as current infrastructure ages and the population increases. Citi finances and makes direct investments in infrastructure in cities and communities around the world, funding $42.6 billion worth of infrastructure projects in 2016. These projects have enabled greater access to power in a number of countries including Jamaica, Guatemala, Vietnam, Pakistan and South Africa, renewable energy in Argentina, modular steel bridges in Zambia and affordable green housing across the U.S.
9.3) Increase the access of small-scale industrial and other enterprises, in particular in developing countries, to financial services including affordable credit, and their integration into value chains and markets
In partnership with the public and private sectors, Citi led the Tech for Integrity (T4I) Challenge, a global open innovation competition to crowdsource technology solutions that address issues of integrity, transparency and corruption – including the challenges of financial inclusion – from entrepreneurs around the world. Out of 1,000 initial registrations, T4I invited 213 startups and tech firms to participate in an Accelerator program, through which they received mentorship, training and access to developer tools. 96 finalists presented their solutions at demo days in India, the United Arab Emirates, Ireland, Mexico, Argentina and Singapore. Many of the solutions sourced through the T4I platform leverage blockchain, artificial intelligence or biometrics to address last mile payments and verification of identities, enabling access to finance for undocumented and underserved populations. T4I also supports SDG 16, in particular target 16.5 on reducing corruption and bribery.
11.2) By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons
As the world's leading cities rapidly grow, they face increasing strains. Through an initiative called “Citi for Cities,” Citi partners with governments, businesses and communities to identify and implement innovative solutions that help cities thrive during this period of unprecedented urban transformation. For example, the state of transportation and mobility within the City of Panama has historically been characterized as inefficient and marked by congestion, road insecurity, and inadequate infrastructure. As a solution to this long-standing issue, the Government of Panama prioritized the construction of a mass transit system for the City of Panama. Citi helped to raise $862 million to help finance the Panama Metro, Central America’s first urban rail system. In addition, Citi worked with the local government to enhance its existing social programs to ensure that any economic displacement of local businesses was mitigated and managed in line with international standards. The Panama Metro has already reduced some workers’ commute times from two hours to a little more than 20 minutes and it transports 30,000 commuters per hour—a figure expected to rise by a third over the next two decades.
12.5) By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling, and reuse
In 2010, Citi set their 2015 operational environmental goals, including a goal of 40% reduction in waste stream to landfill using a base year of 2005. Through numerous initiatives to reduce waste to landfill, such as repurposing and recycling old wireless devices and boosting their recycling rates, Citi surpassed their 2015 goal of a 40% diversion from 2005 volumes in 2013, two years early. As part of their new generation of operational footprint goals, set in 2015, Citi has established a new goal to reduce the company’s waste to landfill by 60% by 2020.