By Maitane Sardon 



  Citigroup Inc. on Wednesday set new goals around financing sustainable activities that it wants to achieve in five years. 


  The bank, one of the largest financiers of carbon-intensive sectors such as oil and gas, said it aims to lend $250 billion for low-carbon activities over the next five years. It will aim to finance activities including renewable energy, clean technology, water quality and conservation, sustainable transportation, green buildings, energy efficiency, circular economy and sustainable agriculture and land use. 


   "Transition [to a low-carbon future] is at the forefront of the C-suite today and Covid-19 has been an accelerator of what was already an important transition pre-Covid," said Phil Drury, EMEA head of banking, capital markets and advisory at Citi. "When we talk about our financing goal we're well beyond green bonds in order to make a pricing difference now, we are advising our CEOs and CFOs around the world on strategic repositioning of their businesses as it relates to a sustainable transition." 


   Mr. Drury said the change in the strategic direction of businesses is one of the reasons Citi has confidence it will achieve the $250 billion financing target in five years. 


  The bank also said it is working to measure, manage and reduce the climate risk and impact of its portfolio of clients. To do so, Citi said it is participating in the development and rollout of the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials, a framework that will help it measure the carbon footprint of its lending portfolios. 


  The bank is also testing the methodology for the Paris Agreement Capital Transition Assessment, a tool that will enable it to look at its most carbon-intensive sectors and clients and measure their progress toward reducing global warming. 


  According to a report by environmental organization Rainforest Action Network, Citi is the world's third biggest funder of fossil fuels, having provided more than $188 billion to fossil-fuel companies since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2016. Citi doesn't disclose how much it lends to fossil-fuel related activities. 


  The bank also said it wants to reduce by 45% the carbon-dioxide emissions of its operations by 2025 from a 2010 baseline. The bank aims to only use renewable electricity to power its facilities globally by the end of 2020. 


  In April, Citi updated its environmental and social policies and committed to rule out financing for Arctic oil-and-gas drilling projects, coal mining and coal-fired power projects world-wide. It also committed to phase out financing of coal mining companies by 2030. 


  Write to Maitane Sardon at maitane.sardon@wsj.com