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Oil rig in Midland Texas. Photo: Creative Commons (CC0).Go directly to the oil and gas financing policy table.
Go directly to: banks and tar sands page, banks and Arctic oil and gas, banks and offshore oil and gas, banks and fracked oil and gas, banks and liquified natural gas (LNG) or banks and other/conventional oil and gas.
Banks and oil and gas
Whereas global carbon dioxide emissions from burning coal have levelled off in the last ten years, emissions from oil and gas have continued to rise. Despite having a lower carbon dioxide intensity than coal, global carbon dioxide emissions from burning oil are now almost as high as those from coal. Gas has just over half the carbon dioxide intensity of coal and is often marketed as a 'transition fuel'. Whilst it currently causes about half the global carbon dioxide emissions of coal, the emissions from gas are increasing faster than both coal and oil. Furthermore, gas consists predominantly of the powerful greenhouse gas methane, which evidence shows often leaks during processing, storage or distribution of gas. Opposition and campaigns against fossil fuels have historically been focused primarily on coal, but over recent years this focus has shifted to include oil and gas as well, particularly to the most polluting sub sectors such as tar sands and fracked oil and gas.
The policies adopted by banks over the last few decades regarding fossil fuels mirrors the focus of the opposition to different sectors. Most restrictions have been placed on the financing of coal, with far fewer restrictions being placed on financing oil and gas, excluding the most environmentally destructive forms of oil and gas such as tar sands, Arctic oil and gas, and fracked oil and gas.
Financing of oil and gas
In order to meet the 1.5 degrees temperature goal set in the Paris Climate Agreement, global carbon dioxide emissions must be more than halved from 2010 levels by 2030 and reach ‘net zero’ by 2050. This gives a 50% chance of staying below a 1.5 degrees temperature increase by 2100. Over the next decade, emissions from burning oil and gas have to decrease by at least 44% and 39%, respectively. Unfortunately, current policies and pledges will lead to a 16% and 5% increase in oil and gas emissions, respectively, over the next decade.
So current policies and pledges are not even close to being aligned with the goals set in the Paris Climate Agreement, which means that at the very least, no expansion of new fossil fuel reserves and infrastructure can be planned. Banks must therefore end support for all new oil and gas activities and implement a full phase-out for financing oil and gas projects and companies in line with the Paris Climate Agreement.
Since signing of the Paris Climate Agreement, the 35 largest banks in the world have financed the entire oil and gas sector by more than USD 2 trillion. The four biggest financiers of oil and gas worldwide are US banks JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi and Bank of America.
See here for banks' exposure to the oil and gas sector in 2016-2019.
At the bottom of this page you can find the campaign pages of up-to-date assessments of bank policies in the Banking on Climate Change report on oil and gas sub sectors such as tar sands and fracked oil and gas as well as the policy assessment on other/conventional oil and gas.
Bank policy scores on oil and gas (overall score)
The table below shows banks’ aggregate policy score on oil and gas. The 'details' section in the table contains further detail on the exact scoring per bank for tar sands, Arctic oil and gas, offshore oil and gas, fracked oil and gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other/conventional oil and gas.
Bank policy scores on oil and gas financing
BankLast update
Country
Details
Laggard
Follower
Front runner
Leader
Agricultural Bank of China
2020-03-01
CHN
0
0
0
ANZ
2020-03-01
AUS
0.5
0.5
0
Bank of America
2020-03-01
USA
1.5
1.5
0
Bank of China
2020-03-01
CHN
0.5
0.5
0
Bank of Montreal (BMO Financial Group)
2020-10-22
CAN
2
2
0
Barclays
2020-03-30
GBR
9.5
9.5
0
BBVA
2020-03-01
ESP
8
8
0
BNP Paribas
2020-05-11
FRA
30.5
30.5
0
China Construction Bank
2020-03-01
CHN
0.5
0.5
0
CIBC
2020-11-20
CAN
2.5
2.5
0
Citigroup
2020-04-20
USA
6
6
0
Commerzbank AG
2020-03-01
DEU
12
12
0
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
2020-03-01
AUS
7.5
7.5
0
Crédit Agricole
2020-03-01
FRA
15
15
0
Credit Suisse Group
2020-08-01
CHE
6
6
0
DBS Bank
2020-03-01
SGP
1.5
1.5
0
Deutsche Bank
2020-07-27
DEU
9
9
0
Goldman Sachs
2020-03-01
USA
5.5
5.5
0
HSBC
2020-03-01
GBR
7.5
7.5
0
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)
2020-03-01
CHN
0
0
0
ING Group
2020-03-01
NLD
17
17
0
Intesa Sanpaolo
2020-03-01
ITA
0.5
0.5
0
JPMorgan Chase
2020-03-01
USA
6
6
0
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG)
2020-05-13
JPN
1.5
1.5
0
Mizuho
2020-06-01
JPN
0.5
0.5
0
Morgan Stanley
2020-04-22
USA
6
6
0
National Australia Bank
2020-03-01
AUS
3.5
3.5
0
Natixis
2020-05-18
FRA
20
20
0
NatWest Group (formerly RBS)
2020-03-01
GBR
19.5
19.5
0
OCBC
2020-03-01
SGP
0
0
0
Royal Bank of Canada
2020-10-02
CAN
2.5
2.5
0
Santander
2020-03-01
ESP
6.5
6.5
0
Scotiabank
2020-12-15
CAN
3.5
3.5
0
Société Générale
2020-03-01
FRA
11.5
11.5
0
Standard Chartered
2020-03-01
GBR
9
9
0
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC)
2020-05-01
JPN
2
2
0
TD bank Financial Group
2020-11-09
CAN
4.5
4.5
0
UBS
2020-03-01
CHE
8.5
8.5
0
UniCredit Group
2020-03-01
ITA
25.5
25.5
0
United Overseas Bank
2020-03-01
SGP
0.5
0.5
0
Wells Fargo
2020-03-01
USA
6
6
0
Westpac Banking Corporation
2020-05-04
AUS
3.5
3.5
0
Explanation
For each of the six subsectors, 20 possible policy points can be obtained, so a bank can obtain a total of 120 policy points for its oil and gas policies. Based on this score banks are then classified as laggards (0-30 points), followers (30.5-60 points), front runners (60.5-90 points) or leaders (90.5-120 points).
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.
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