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Banks committed to net zero still funding North Sea oil expansion by Equinor

Over 60 organisations have written to Equinor's biggest bankers warning them not to fund the company's controversial Rosebank oil field due to climate risks.
2023-07-04
By: BankTrack
Contact:

Natasha Ion, Climate Campaigner at BankTrack

Holly Duhig, Outreach executive at Uplift, +44 07360651711

Letter to banks funding Equinor, July 2023. Photo: Uplift
2023-07-04
By: BankTrack
Contact:

Natasha Ion, Climate Campaigner at BankTrack

Holly Duhig, Outreach executive at Uplift, +44 07360651711

In a letter to 20 of Equinor’s financiers, including Barclays, JP Morgan and BNP Paribas, campaigners point out that funding the Rosebank oil field in the North Sea would be in breach of these banks’ commitment to limit warming to 1.5°C. 

The letter was convened by BankTrack and Uplift and signed by over 60 organisations including Action Aid, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace. It outlines how, due to Rosebank, banks’ financial relationship with Equinor risks being incompatible with their own climate commitments and exposing banks to significant reputational, legal, financial and other risks. The letter calls on the banks not to finance the project directly and to engage with Equinor and push the company to cease its development.

All 20 banks are members of the Net Zero Banking Alliance, which commits them to align their financing with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Rosebank is the largest undeveloped oil field in the North Sea, containing an estimated 500 million barrels of oil. The CO2 emissions from burning this oil would equate to more than the annual emissions of 28 low-income countries combined (1). Rosebank’s emissions would also see the UK oil and gas industry breach climate targets agreed with the government.(2)

From 2016-2022, these 20 banks provided at least US$ 16 billion in financing to Equinor via lending and underwriting. Santander, Barclays, JP Morgan and BNP Paribas alone have provided over US$ 6 billion.(3) 

Maaike Beenes, Banks and Climate Campaign Lead at Banktrack, said: "The Rosebank field would be a dangerous step towards overshooting 1.5C of global warming, and by financing Equinor banks share responsibility. Any bank that is genuinely committed to a safe climate must engage with Equinor and cut ties with the company if it continues to develop the field."

Tessa Khan, executive director of Uplift, said: “So far, Equinor has shut its ears to the multiple warnings, from the UN Secretary-General, climate scientists and others, that there can be no expansion of oil if we’re to protect our children from catastrophic climate change. But money talks, and these banks need to join the growing chorus demanding that Equinor cease its plans to expand oil and gas drilling. Their climate commitments, if they have any integrity, bar them from funding Rosebank.”

Climate scientists, the International Energy Agency and others are clear that new oil and gas fields are incompatible with the world meeting its target of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees. This week, the UK government’s own advisors on climate change warned that the expansion of fossil fuel production is not in line with Net Zero.(4)

The UK government is expected to make a decision on Rosebank imminently. 

Notes to editors

The letter to the banks and list of signatories is here.

  1. World Bank, "CO2 emissions", 2020.

  2. The Guardian, "New oilfield in the North Sea would blow the UK’s carbon budget", April 2023.

  3. BankTrack, "Equinor company profile", June 2023.

  4. Climate change committee, "2023 Progress Report to Parliament", June 2023

Banks

Banco Santander

Spain
Active

Bank of America

United States
Active

Barclays

United Kingdom
Active

BNP Paribas

France
Active

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)

Canada
Active

Citi

United States
Active

Crédit Agricole

France
Active

Credit Suisse

Switzerland
Active

Deutsche Bank

Germany
Active

DNB

Norway
Active

Goldman Sachs

United States
Active

JPMorgan Chase

United States
Active

Jyske Bank

Denmark
Active

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG)

Japan
Active

Mizuho Financial Group

Japan
Active

Morgan Stanley

United States
Active

Nordea

Finland
Active

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB)

Sweden
Active

Société Générale

France
Active

Standard Chartered

United Kingdom
Active
Dodgy Deals

North Sea oil and gas projects

- international -
Project
Active
Oil and Gas Extraction

North Sea oil and gas projects

- international -

Rosebank

United Kingdom
Project
Target
Oil and Gas Extraction

Rosebank

United Kingdom
There are no active project profiles for this item now.

Equinor

Norway
Company
target
Oil and Gas Extraction

Equinor

Norway
There are no active company profiles for this item now.
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