CINCINNATI—Fifth Third Bank, National Association, today announced the appointment of Michele Mullins as the Company’s first climate risk officer. The role expands Mullins’ duties as director of enterprise risk governance and business support, and reflects the Bank’s commitment to environmental sustainability leadership.
Fifth Third Chairman and CEO Greg Carmichael said, “With a proven track record of establishing appropriate procedures, testing for adherence to policies, identifying and monitoring key performance indicators and mitigating risk, Michele is well suited to lead Fifth Third’s efforts to actively manage climate risk.”
In nearly 20 years with Fifth Third, Mullins has served in a variety of management roles in Risk and in the Commercial line of business. She will retain her responsibilities in enterprise risk governance and business support. The new role gives Mullins responsibility for partnering across the enterprise to identify and gauge physical and transition risks related to climate change in order to assess and mitigate them effectively.
Her responsibilities include benchmarking with peer firms and ensuring Fifth Third remains aligned with industry trends, including the Bank’s efforts around publishing the TCFD (Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures) report. As director of Enterprise & Climate Risk Governance and business support, Mullins will continue to report to Bob Shaffer, executive vice president and chief risk officer.
Fifth Third achieved carbon neutrality for its own 2020 operations (Scope 1, Scope 2 and business travel under Scope 3), which made Fifth Third the first bank in its peer group to mark that achievement. It also comes as the Bank has joined the Ceres Company Network and committed to measuring and ultimately reducing emissions in certain client portfolios, aided by its joining the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials.
Fifth Third has announced six bold sustainability goals, including a five-year, $8 billion sustainable finance goal, announced in 2020, and five goals, announced in 2017, to reduce its use of resources. It already has achieved three of the five: using 100% renewable power, reducing water use by 20% and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25%. In addition to these goals, Fifth Third has maintained its A- Climate Leadership Score from CDP in 2020 and established a national renewable energy finance center of excellence in 2018.
Fifth Third aligns its work in environmental sustainability to the United Nations Sustainable Finance Goal No. 13 Climate Action. More information is available in Fifth Third’s 2020 Environmental, Social and Governance Report.
About Fifth Third
Fifth Third Bancorp is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the indirect parent company of Fifth Third Bank, National Association, a federally chartered institution. As of June 30, 2021, the Company had $205 billion in assets and operates 1,096 full-service Banking Centers, and 2,369 Fifth Third branded ATMs in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. In total, Fifth Third provides its customers with access to approximately 53,000 fee-free ATMs across the United States. Fifth Third operates four main businesses: Commercial Banking, Branch Banking, Consumer Lending, and Wealth & Asset Management. Fifth Third is among the largest money managers in the Midwest and, as of June 30, 2021, had $483 billion in assets under care, of which it managed $61 billion for individuals, corporations and not-for-profit organizations through its Trust and Registered Investment Advisory businesses. Investor information and press releases can be viewed at www.53.com. Fifth Third’s common stock is traded on the NASDAQ® Global Select Market under the symbol “FITB.”