Irish bank AIB targets 70% green lending by 2030

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish bank AIB Group has set a target for 70% of new lending to be for environmentally friendly projects or to speed transition to a greener economy, it said on Monday, up from 20% so far this year.

To achieve its goal, the bank has tripled the money allocated for green lending to 30 billion euros ($32.7 billion) from 2024 to 2030.

AIB, one of Ireland's two largest lenders, said it is on track to exhaust its existing 10 billion euro climate action fund by the end of the year, meeting a target set when it last boosted the fund two years ago.

The Irish government set out legally binding climate targets in 2021 for key sectors of the economy to cut overall greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030. It said that would require about 125 billion euros of investment, primarily from the private sector.

($1 = 0.9168 euros)

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by David Goodman)