Nov 21, 2025 1 min read People & Culture

ABN Amro names new Chief Sustainability Officer

Sandra Phlippen replaces Solange Rouschop, who has been leading the bank’s sustainability strategy since 2023.

Melodie Michel

Sandra Phlippen is set to become ABN Amro's new Chief Sustainability Officer

Dutch bank ABN Amro has appointed Sandra Phlippen as its new Chief Sustainability Officer, effective January 1, 2026.

She replaces Solange Rouschop, an ABN Amro veteran who has been leading the bank’s sustainability strategy since 2023.

Phlippen was previously the bank’s Chief Economist since 2020 – a role in which she made “significant contributions” to sustainability, according to an ABN Amro statement.

“Sandra's appointment reflects ABN Amro's commitment to reposition sustainability as a core enabler of our strategy and daily operations to create value for our clients. Her extensive expertise in economics and sustainability, coupled with her leadership skills, positions her favourably to guide the bank in achieving its strategic goals,” the bank adds.

ABN Amro’s sector-specific climate targets

ABN Amro was a member of the now defunct Net Zero Banking Alliance. As such, the bank has set a number of sector-specific decarbonisation targets for 2030: -41% for commercial real estate, -44% for upstream and midstream oil and gas, -46% for shipping, -35% for certain type of road transportation, and -11% for agriculture, among others.

In its 2024 integrated report – the first to be aligned to the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) – former CSO Rouschop wrote that nearly half of the investments made on behalf of the bank’s clients were ESG and impact investments, and that ABN Amro has surpassed its 2025 renewable energy financing target of €4 billion in 2023, raising it to €10 billion by 2030.

“But challenges remain. Our own business travel emissions increased; we are not on track to reach our 2030 target for this. We also had to postpone our circular deals target to 2027. We are really keen to help create a more circular economy, but there has been a lack of suitable financing opportunities,” she added.