Banks and fossil fuel financing - timeline
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Go directly to the timeline of bank policy scores on: fossil fuel financing, oil and gas financing or coal financing.

Fossil fuel financing

By providing financial services, the financial sector - including large commercial banks - play a key role in determining which industry has access to the resources it needs to grow. For a long time, the bank’s decision to finance a certain company or project was predominantly determined by profits and financial risk. However, over the last decade, banks have steadily been pushed to include more factors than just legal and financial incentives in their decision making. One of the areas where progress has been made in recent years is including (potential) environmental or climate damage risks in the decision making processes of banks. Thanks to pressure exerted on banks by regulators, society and consumers, an increasing number of banks are adopting policies that restrict financing of certain fossil fuel projects and/or the companies behind them.

So far, most progress has been made on coal, which is the most polluting and carbon intensive type of fossil fuel. However, an increasing number of banks are adopting policies that restrict financing of oil and gas as well, particularly the more polluting sub sectors such as tar sands, hydraulic fracturing or Arctic oil and gas. It is essential that regulators, society and consumers continue to demand from banks that they strengthen their policies on financing fossil fuels until each bank is ‘Paris-aligned’, which includes a complete stop on financing any expansion of fossil fuel projects and the companies behind these projects.

As the world’s largest banks continue to implement ever more fossil fuel policies over time, it becomes increasingly important to track a bank’s progress in adopting new fossil fuels policies and assess the quality of these policies over time. This way, banks that haven’t updated their fossil fuel policies for a long time or have not made any meaningful changes can be confronted with their lack of progress and will experience more pressure from activists and civil society organisations to strengthen their fossil fuel policies.This page presents an overview of how our score of bank policies on fossil fuel financing has evolved over time. The general overview is followed by a timeline for bank policies on oil and gas financing and bank policies on coal financing. 

The assessments were originally included in our Banking on Climate Change 2020 report, published in March 2020 and updated every quarter since then. 

Bank policy scores on fossil fuel financing - timeline

The table below shows banks’ aggregate policy score over time on all types of fossil fuels. The ‘Details’ section in the table provides further detail per bank on its current score as well as its score after each quarter for coal and oil and gas policies. 

Bank policy scores on fossil fuel financing - timeline

BankLast update
Country
Details
Mar 31 2020
Jun 30 2020
Sep 30 2020
Dec 31 2020
Agricultural Bank of China
2020-09-30
CHN
0
0
0
ANZ
2020-09-30
AUS
10.5
10.5
10.5
Bank of America
2020-09-30
USA
6
6
6
Bank of China
2020-09-30
CHN
0.5
0.5
0.5
Bank of Montreal (BMO Financial Group)
2020-09-30
CAN
0.5
0.5
0.5
Barclays
2020-09-30
GBR
29.5
29.5
29.5
BBVA
2020-09-30
ESP
28
28
28
BNP Paribas
2020-09-30
FRA
58.5
64.5
90.5
China Construction Bank
2020-09-30
CHN
0.5
0.5
0.5
CIBC
2020-09-30
CAN
0.5
0.5
0.5
Citigroup
2020-09-30
USA
9.5
22
22
Commerzbank AG
2020-09-30
DEU
26.5
26.5
26.5
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
2020-09-30
AUS
19.5
19.5
19.5
Crédit Agricole
2020-09-30
FRA
82
82
82
Credit Suisse Group
2020-09-30
CHE
9
9
9
DBS Bank
2020-09-30
SGP
8.5
8.5
8.5
Deutsche Bank
2020-09-30
DEU
13
13
29
Goldman Sachs
2020-09-30
USA
21.5
21.5
21.5
HSBC
2020-09-30
GBR
18.5
20.5
20.5
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)
2020-09-30
CHN
0
0
0
ING Group
2020-09-30
NLD
45
45
45
Intesa Sanpaolo
2020-09-30
ITA
0.5
18.5
18.5
JPMorgan Chase
2020-09-30
USA
19.5
19.5
19.5
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG)
2020-09-30
JPN
5
6
6
Mizuho
2020-09-30
JPN
3
4
4
Morgan Stanley
2020-09-30
USA
9
21
21
National Australia Bank
2020-09-30
AUS
21
21
21
Natixis
2020-09-30
FRA
43
73
73
NatWest Group (formerly RBS)
2020-09-30
GBR
59.5
59.9
59.5
OCBC
2020-09-30
SGP
8
8
8
Royal Bank of Canada
2020-09-30
CAN
1
1
1
Santander
2020-09-30
ESP
20.5
20.5
20.5
Scotiabank
2020-09-30
CAN
0.5
0.5
0.5
Société Générale
2020-09-30
FRA
56.5
56.5
80.5
Standard Chartered
2020-09-30
GBR
25.5
25.5
25.5
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC)
2020-09-30
JPN
3
5.5
5.5
TD bank Financial Group
2020-09-30
CAN
3
3
3
UBS
2020-09-30
CHE
25.5
25.5
25.5
UniCredit Group
2020-09-30
ITA
59
59
100.5
United Overseas Bank
2020-09-30
SGP
9
9
9
Wells Fargo
2020-09-30
USA
9
9
9
Westpac Banking Corporation
2020-09-30
AUS
8.5
14.5
14.5
Explanation

A bank can obtain a total of 200 policy points for its overall fossil fuel policies; 120 possible points for oil and gas policies and 80 possible points for coal policies.

 

Bank policy scores on oil and gas financing - timeline

The table below shows banks’ aggregate policy score over time on oil and gas. The ‘Details’ section in the table provides further detail per bank on its current score as well as its score after each quarter for oil & gas policies. 

Bank policy scores on oil and gas financing - timeline

BankLast update
Country
Details
Mar 31
Jun 30
Sep 30
Dec 31
Agricultural Bank of China
2020-09-30
CHN
0
0
0
ANZ
2020-09-30
AUS
0.5
0.5
0.5
Bank of America
2020-09-30
USA
1.5
1.5
1.5
Bank of China
2020-09-30
CHN
0.5
0.5
0.5
Bank of Montreal (BMO Financial Group)
2020-09-30
CAN
0.5
0.5
0.5
Barclays
2020-09-30
GBR
9.5
9.5
9.5
BBVA
2020-09-30
ESP
8
8
8
BNP Paribas
2020-09-30
FRA
30.5
30.5
30.5
China Construction Bank
2020-09-30
CHN
0.5
0.5
0.5
CIBC
2020-09-30
CAN
0.5
0.5
0.5
Citigroup
2020-09-30
USA
3
6
6
Commerzbank AG
2020-09-30
DEU
12
12
12
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
2020-09-30
AUS
7.5
7.5
7.5
Crédit Agricole
2020-09-30
FRA
15
15
15
Credit Suisse Group
2020-09-30
CHE
2
2
2
DBS Bank
2020-09-30
SGP
1.5
1.5
1.5
Deutsche Bank
2020-09-30
DEU
1.5
1.5
9
Goldman Sachs
2020-09-30
USA
5.5
5.5
5.5
HSBC
2020-09-30
GBR
7.5
7.5
7.5
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)
2020-09-30
CHN
0
0
0
ING Group
2020-09-30
NLD
17
17
17
Intesa Sanpaolo
2020-09-30
ITA
0.5
0.5
0.5
JPMorgan Chase
2020-09-30
USA
6
6
6
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG)
2020-09-30
JPN
0.5
1.5
1.5
Mizuho
2020-09-30
JPN
0.5
0.5
0.5
Morgan Stanley
2020-09-30
USA
3
6
6
National Australia Bank
2020-09-30
AUS
3.5
3.5
3.5
Natixis
2020-09-30
FRA
14
20
20
NatWest Group (formerly RBS)
2020-09-30
GBR
19.5
19.5
19.5
OCBC
2020-09-30
SGP
0
0
0
Royal Bank of Canada
2020-09-30
CAN
1
1
1
Santander
2020-09-30
ESP
6.5
6.5
6.5
Scotiabank
2020-09-30
CAN
0.5
0.5
0.5
Société Générale
2020-09-30
FRA
11.5
11.5
11.5
Standard Chartered
2020-09-30
GBR
9
9
9
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC)
2020-09-30
JPN
0.5
2
2
TD bank Financial Group
2020-09-30
CAN
1.5
1.5
1.5
UBS
2020-09-30
CHE
8.5
8.5
8.5
UniCredit Group
2020-09-30
ITA
25.5
25.5
25.5
United Overseas Bank
2020-09-30
SGP
0.5
0.5
0.5
Wells Fargo
2020-09-30
USA
6
6
6
Westpac Banking Corporation
2020-09-30
AUS
0.5
3.5
3.5
Explanation

For each of the six subsectors, Arctic oil and gas, tar sands, offshore oil and gas, fracked oil & gas, LNG and other/conventional oil and gas, 20 possible policy points can be obtained, so a bank can obtain a total of 120 policy points for its oil and gas policies.

 

Bank policy scores on coal financing - timeline

The table below shows banks’ aggregate policy score over time on coal. The ‘Details’ section in the table provides further detail per bank on its current score as well as its score after each quarter for coal policies. 

Bank policy scores on coal financing - timeline

BankLast update
Country
Details
Mar 31 2020
Jun 30 2020
Sep 30 2020
Dec 31 2020
ABN AMRO
2020-09-30
NLD
26
26
26
Agricultural Bank of China
2020-09-30
CHN
0
0
0
ANZ
2020-09-30
AUS
10
10
10
Bank of America
2020-09-30
USA
4.5
4.5
4.5
Bank of China
2020-09-30
CHN
0
0
0
Bank of Montreal (BMO Financial Group)
2020-09-30
CAN
0
0
0
Barclays
2020-09-30
GBR
21
21
21
BBVA
2020-09-30
ESP
20
20
20
BNP Paribas
2020-09-30
FRA
28
34
60
China Construction Bank
2020-09-30
CHN
0
0
0
CIBC
2020-09-30
CAN
0
0
0
Citigroup
2020-09-30
USA
6.5
16
16
Commerzbank AG
2020-09-30
DEU
14.5
14.5
14.5
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
2020-09-30
AUS
12
12
12
Crédit Agricole
2020-09-30
FRA
67
67
67
Credit Mutuel-CIC
2020-09-30
FRA
75
75
75
Credit Suisse Group
2020-09-30
CHE
7
7
7
DBS Bank
2020-09-30
SGP
7
7
7
Deutsche Bank
2020-09-30
DEU
11.5
11.5
20
Goldman Sachs
2020-09-30
USA
16
16
16
HSBC
2020-09-30
GBR
11
13
13
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)
2020-09-30
CHN
0
0
0
ING Group
2020-09-30
NLD
28
28
28
Intesa Sanpaolo
2020-09-30
ITA
0
18
18
JPMorgan Chase
2020-09-30
USA
13.5
13.5
13.5
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG)
2020-09-30
JPN
4.5
4.5
4.5
Mizuho
2020-09-30
JPN
2.5
3.5
3.5
Morgan Stanley
2020-09-30
USA
6
15
15
National Australia Bank
2020-09-30
AUS
17.5
17.5
17.5
Natixis
2020-09-30
FRA
29
53
53
NatWest Group (formerly RBS)
2020-09-30
GBR
40
40
40
OCBC
2020-09-30
SGP
8
8
8
PNC Bank
2020-09-30
USA
8.5
8.5
8.5
Royal Bank of Canada
2020-09-30
CAN
0
0
0
Santander
2020-09-30
ESP
14
14
14
Scotiabank
2020-09-30
CAN
0
0
0
Société Générale
2020-09-30
FRA
45
45
67
Standard Chartered
2020-09-30
GBR
16.5
16.5
16.5
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC)
2020-09-30
JPN
2.5
3.5
3.5
TD bank Financial Group
2020-09-30
CAN
1.5
1.5
1.5
UBS
2020-09-30
CHE
17
17
17
UniCredit Group
2020-09-30
ITA
33.5
33.5
75
United Overseas Bank
2020-09-30
SGP
8.5
8.5
8.5
US Bancorp
2020-09-30
USA
12.5
12.5
12.5
Wells Fargo
2020-09-30
USA
3
3
3
Westpac Banking Corporation
2020-09-30
AUS
8
11
11
Explanation

For both coal mining and coal power, 32 possible policy points can be obtained, while for coal infrastructure, 16 possible policy points can be obtained. So a bank can obtain a total of 80 policy points for its coal policies.

 

Feedback welcome

Our policy assessments are always a work in progress and we very much welcome any feedback, especially from banks included in them. You can of course also contact us for more information on specific scores and the latest policy changes. Please get in touch at climate@banktrack.org.

 

Documents

Type:
Year:
our publications

Principles for Paris-Aligned Financial Institutions: Climate Impact, Fossil Fuels and Deforestation

2020-09-16 00:00:00 | RAN, BankTrack