No more funding for new oil and gas fields: HSBC says so
The banking giant, based in the HSBC Tower in Canary Wharf, in London’s Docklands, will no longer finance new oil and gas fields as part of its climate policy.
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The announcement is a rather striking one. Especially when it comes from HSBC, which is not only one of the largest banking groups in the world, but also Europe’s largest lender by market capitalisation, at 157.2 billion euros. The banking giant, based in the HSBC Tower in Canary Wharf, in London’s Docklands, will no longer finance new oil and gas fields as part of its climate policy.
Europe’s largest bank said it had made the decision after receiving advice from international energy experts.
In the recent past, HSBC had received numerous criticisms for financing oil and gas projects despite its ‘green’ commitments.
Jeanne Martin, head of the banking programme at ShareAction, a non-profit organisation campaigning against investment in fossil fuels such as oil and gas, said that HSBC’s announcement “sends a strong signal to the fossil fuel giants and to governments: banks’ appetite for financing new oil and gas fields is waning”. The organisation then urged other banks to follow suit, saying that the move sets “a new minimum level of ambition” for the sector.
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In 2020, HSBC committed to being ‘net zero’ – that is, to reaching the goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere – and to investing and lending up to $1 trillion (£806 billion) in projects for the green transition.
However, some sources, including ShareAction, revealed that HSBC had invested around $8.7 billion (£6.4 billion) in new oil and gas in 2021.
The bank said that the decision to change course was taken ‘following consultations with leading scientific and international bodies’. These same bodies estimated that existing oil and gas fields would meet any demand up to 2050 in a ‘net-zero’ scenario. The bank also said it would continue to provide financing for fossil fuel projects currently under way ‘in line with the current and future decline in global demand for oil and gas’.
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