Citi Commits $1 Trillion to Sustainable Finance by 2030
The last year has marked major steps in Citi's commitment to combating the climate crisis. In July 2020, we announced our new five-year, 2025 Sustainable Progress Strategy to help accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy, including a $250 billion environmental finance goal. Just last month, we announced our commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 and laid out the first steps we'll take to get there.
Today, we're excited to share that we are committing $1 trillion to sustainable finance by 2030, which aligns with the ambitious agenda of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and builds on the work we outlined in our 2025 Sustainable Progress Strategy. Crucially, this $1 trillion includes extending our current environmental finance target from $250 billion by 2025 to $500 billion by 2030. We will finance and facilitate a wide array of climate solutions -- from renewable energy and clean technology, to water conservation and sustainable transportation -- and will further accelerate the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon economy that balances the environmental, social and economic needs of society.
In addition, we finance many other activities in support of the SDGs outside of environmental finance. These include important investments in education, affordable housing, health care, economic inclusion, community finance, international development finance, racial and ethnic diversity and gender equality. We are committing an additional $500 billion to these activities by 2030, as part of our $1 trillion sustainable finance effort.
Given our global footprint and our role in supporting economic activity around the world, Citi has a role to play in achieving the SDGs -- and in this moment as we look towards emerging and rebuilding from the COVID-19 pandemic, it's more crucial than ever that we address these priorities together.
As the pandemic has made clear, our economic and physical health, our environment and our social stability are all inextricably linked. At Citi, our response is similarly multi-pronged and interconnected. In 2020, we launched $1 billion in strategic initiatives to help close the racial wealth gap and increase economic mobility in the U.S. We have invested in 13 companies through Citi's $200 million Impact Fund since its launch last January, the majority of which are founded by women and/or minorities. We continue to be the largest U.S. affordable housing development lender, providing $7 billion in loans for affordable housing projects in the U.S. in 2020.
To support communities most impacted by COVID-19, we have committed over $100 million in relief and recovery efforts. Citi was selected by Gavi, the Global Vaccine Alliance, as sole financial advisor to the COVAX Facility to support the fair and equitable distribution of vaccines. We also expanded the global Pathways to Progress job skills-building initiative, led by a three-year, $100 million investment from the Citi Foundation. We continue to be transparent about our pay equity work and efforts to increase women and U.S. minorities in senior and high paying roles.
While there is still much to do and the challenges are immense, our goals are both ambitious and urgent and our commitment to collective action -- with governments, clients and competitors -- is stronger than ever.