Following a recent update to its coal finance policies, Spain’s biggest bank Banco Santander has committed to ending its direct financing of coal projects (mining and power) worldwide, a decision welcomed as a good move by NGOs. [1] Santander’s new commitment comes just a few weeks after the release of a video pushing banks including Santander to end their coal financing. [2] The policy changes make Santander the twenty-first major international bank to commit to end project finance for new thermal coal mines, and the nineteenth to…

On Tuesday, dozens of Fossil Banks, No Thanks! campaign supporters from Japan to South Africa filled Twitter with photos as they sent messages to fossil banks outside branches, headquarters and even a sponsored sporting event. Twelve groups from nine countries targeted seventeen different banks, spreading the message far and wide: it's time for banks to stop financing fossil fuels! Here is a selection of some of our favourite photos and tweets from the day. The whole brilliant bunch of photos can…

While the latest IPCC and UN Emissions Gap reports both issue stark warnings on the need for an accelerated phase-out of coal power, the global coal plant fleet is still expanding. At today’s press conference during the UN Climate Summit in Katowice, Urgewald, BankTrack and 26 NGO partners released new research identifying the banks and investors backing a frightening pipeline of new coal projects.   “In the 3 years since the Paris Climate Agreement was signed, coal-fired capacity has grown by over 92,000 MW, and coal plants totaling…

Banks endorsing the draft “Principles for Responsible Banking” (PRB) - launched today in Paris at the UNEP Finance Initiative Global Roundtable - should rapidly back this up by making concrete commitments that ensure the PRBs deliver on their ambition to bring real change in how banks conduct their business, according to BankTrack. This requires at minimum that all PRB endorsing banks commit to immediately end all financial support for new fossil fuel projects and develop a phase-out plan for their existing fossil fuel portfolios.[1] Banks…