Lending that honours the planet that funds it.

Three pillars of measurable sustainability

We organise our environmental commitment around three pillars, each with annual targets and published outcomes. The framework is deliberately simple — sophistication of measurement matters less than honesty of reporting.

Carbon-conscious capital

Every loan we underwrite is assessed for its carbon implications. For sustainability-led loans (renewables, retrofits, clean transport, regenerative agriculture), we measure the avoided emissions over the loan term. For conventional loans, we screen against negative-impact sectors and decline to lend to fossil-fuel extraction, deforestation, or other categories incompatible with our framework.

In 2025, our cumulative lending portfolio represented an estimated 87,000 tonnes CO2e of avoided emissions over project lifetimes — primarily through funded renewable energy installation, building retrofits, and clean-transport adoption.

Operational emissions, fully offset

Our own operational footprint — offices, travel, IT infrastructure, employee commuting — is measured annually against the GHG Protocol Scope 1, 2, and 3 framework. The full Scope 1+2+3 footprint is offset through verified reforestation and conservation partners in the UK, Europe, and the Global South.

2025 footprint: 412 tonnes CO2e across all scopes. Offset 100% via verified Gold Standard, Verra VCS, and Plan Vivo projects. Independent verification of both footprint and offsets is published in our annual sustainability report.

Green-priority financing

Sustainability-led loans receive a 48-hour decision turnaround — significantly faster than our standard process. The credit-underwriting standard is identical; only the speed differs. The intent is to remove a key friction in the deployment of capital into the energy transition.

In 2025, the green-fast-track approved £186 million of capital deployment into qualifying projects — a 41% increase on 2024.

Where our 2025 lending went

We do not believe sustainability is a marketing position. It is an operating constraint. Every quarterly portfolio review measures both financial and environmental performance, and either dimension can flag a deal for additional scrutiny. — ASAF Lending Sustainability Charter, 2024

Where the offsets go

Our offset programme is delivered through verified third-party partners selected for additionality, permanence, and community co-benefit. We do not use cheap volume offsets that fail one or more of those tests.

• Welsh and Scottish native woodland restoration (FSC-certified, monitored 50-year permanence)
• Mangrove restoration in coastal Kenya and Madagascar (community-led, Plan Vivo verified)
• Energy-poverty alleviation projects in sub-Saharan Africa (Gold Standard, certified clean cookstoves)
• Peatland restoration in Northern England (UK Peatland Code, multi-decade carbon retention)
• Soil-carbon agriculture pilots with UK regenerative-farming partners (verifying via Verra VCS)