Mayo Credit Union part of new initiative to measure climate impact of green loans

Irish credit union members are borrowing significantly higher amounts to invest in energy-saving home improvements and electric vehicles, according to new data from Greenify, the national green lending initiative from Collaborative Finance. Collaborative Finance is owned by 34 credit unions, one of which is St. Colman's Credit Union, Claremorris, and was set up to offer standardised loan products with a common rate.

Greenify has just launched the Greenify Carbon Calculator, a tool designed to help credit unions measure the environmental impact in real terms of lending for solar panels and electric vehicles. St. Colman’s Credit Union Claremorris will be participating in this new plan.

The calculator enables participating credit unions to track the carbon emissions reduced through lending for solar panels and electric vehicles, using verified Irish data sources.

The experts behind the Greenify initiative say that figures point to a marked change in borrower behaviour, with members increasingly taking out larger loans where there is a clear payback through lower energy bills and running costs. Greenify loans are designed to support this, offering competitive credit union finance for solar panels, home energy upgrades and electric vehicles.

Greenify estimates that if 500 members across 20 credit unions installed solar panels, annual carbon savings could exceed 505 tonnes of CO₂. This is equivalent to removing around 117 cars from the road each year, or the annual electricity use of approximately 67 homes. With 33 credit unions already part of the Greenify network and strong interest from others, those kinds of impacts are well within reach.