Reacting to the publication of Santander’s annual report, Elliot Thornton, Senior Research Manager at ShareAction, said:

“After already rolling back key fossil fuel policies, Santander has now quietly diluted the ambition of its targets to cut emissions driving dangerous global heating.

“The bank has scaled down its target for oil and gas so that it leaves out the vast majority of the pollution the sector is responsible for, making it one of the weakest across all major European banks.

“This retreat exposes Santander to material long‑term financial and reputational risks. Its investors cannot rely on a strategy that shifts the goalposts the moment progress becomes inconvenient.

“Shareholders should treat it as a governance failure and use their votes at the AGM to hold the board firmly to account.”

Notes to editors:

ShareAction wrote to Santander in December 2025 calling out the bank’s backtracking and urging it to take steps to push back against calls for climate inaction.

The Banking Standards team at ShareAction partners with asset managers, asset owners, NGOs, retail investors and representatives of affected communities to demand Europe’s largest banks phase out financing to polluting activities and increase the flow of capital into low-carbon alternatives.

This reaction was originally posted on ShareAction's website here.