UK Banks' Investments In Coal Sector Up From $21 Billion To $30 Billion Since Paris
British banks’ financial support for companies involved in the coal industry has risen since the 2015 Paris agreement, despite their pledges to wind down financing for a sector seen as a significant obstacle to tackling global heating.
UK lenders provided loans and underwriting services worth $30.3bn (£21.9bn) to companies that sold or burned coal, or provided coal industry services, during 2019, the latest year for which complete data is available, according to research by the campaign groups Reclaim Finance and Urgewald. That represented a significant increase compared with $21.5bn in financing provided in 2016. Barclays was by far the biggest UK provider of finance to companies in the coal industry, followed by HSBC and Standard Chartered, the research found.
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HSBC gave $6.5bn in financing in 2019 to companies with coal interests. It has previously financed companies including Indonesia’s PLN and South Korea’s Kepco. Standard Chartered provided services worth $4.6bn in 2019, and has funded India’s Adani and Power Finance Corp, as well as South Korea’s Posco. Between January and October 2020 those three banks provided another $19.2bn in coal financing – the same amount as in the whole of 2016.
The data comes as investors increasingly pressure banks to improve their record on climate issues. On Wednesday Barclays will face its second consecutive shareholder climate vote on a resolution urging it to phase out services to coal, oil and gas companies.
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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/may/04/uk-banks-coal-industry-2015-paris-climate-pact-barclays-hsbc