HSBC, the UK’s biggest high street bank and one of the world’s biggest financers of fossil fuels, will no longer finance new oil and gas fields, it has announced today.
Environmental groups have said that this announcement sends a “strong signal” to fossil fuel giants that banks’ appetite for financing new oil and gas fields is diminishing.
Today’s pledge followed a shareholder resolution asking HSBC to update its oil and gas policy, which was coordinated by ShareAction and institutional investors earlier this year.
Jeanne Martin, Head of the Banking Programme at ShareAction, a charity campaigning for reducing investment in fossil fuels, said: “HSBC’s announcement sends a strong signal to fossil fuel giants and governments that banks’ appetite for financing new oil and gas fields is diminishing.”
The charity called on other banks to follow suit – saying that this move “sets a new minimum level of ambition for all banks committed to net zero.”
However, ShareAction have urged HSBC to go even further.
This new commitment does not apply to shale gas. HSBC was Europe’s fifth largest fracking financier and 20th globally between 2016 and 2021, according to Rainforest Action Network.
Currently, HSBC only has a due diligence process in place for shale gas.
HSBC is one of the biggest banks to confirm it will not support oil and gas projects that received final approval after the end of 2021.
The International Energy Agency has said this move is needed for the world to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
Britain’s biggest domestic bank Lloyds has also made this pledge.
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