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HSBC. Europe’s largest bank. said today (April 20) that it plans to extend its ban on financing new coal-power plants to even more countries. will prohibit the financing of new offshore oil and gas projects in the Arctic. and won’t support new greenfield oil-sands projects.
The bank’s head of sustainable finance. Daniel Klier. in a statement attached to an updated energy policy. described the moves as part of HSBC’s efforts to help clients transition to a low-carbon world that achieves the Paris climate agreement of keeping global temperature increases to below 2°C.
As scrutiny of the financial sector’s role in carbon-emitting activities increases. some banks have stopped giving loans to carbon-heavy projects such as the extraction of oil and gas. and the pipelines that carry them. French bank BNP Pariabas is considered to be among the leaders.
The industry’s entanglement in fossil-fuel energy can be seen in the limitations of HSBC’s energy policy. which describes the bank as a “a longstanding supporter“ of the energy sector. “Our primary aim is to support our customers in the transition from a high-carbon to a low-carbon economy.“ the policy said. “If we simply stop banking customers involved in high-carbon activities. this is unlikely to expedite the transition to a low-carbon economy and may even have serious negative consequences.“
