Today Deutsche Bank announced plans to reduce its exposure to thermal coal and its decision to no longer grant project financing for greenfield thermal coal mines and new coal-fired power stations.

Heffa Schuecking, director of urgewald, one of Germany’s leading campaign organisations, said:

“This is a welcome and long overdue decision, but addresses only a small part of the problem. Direct project financing accounts for only 2% of banks’ financial flows to the global coal industry. 98% of the problem remains as the new guideline does not stop Deutsche Bank from providing corporate loans and investment banking services to companies with aggressive new build plans for coal-fired infrastructure.

“If Deutsche Bank really wants to bring its portfolio in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, it needs to blacklist clients like India’s NTPC, South Korea’s KEPCO and others who play a key role in driving forward projects that could catapult us into a 4°C world.”

Yann Louvel, Climate and Energy Campaign Coordinator at BankTrack, said:

“Deutsche Bank is now the eighth international bank to exclude direct financing of new coal mining projects and the sixth to exclude financing of new coal plant projects. Many of Deutsche Bank’s European competitors are, however, also beginning to exclude their corporate financing of companies which base over 50% of their revenues or power generation on coal. This sets a clear bar for what Deutsche Bank needs to do next.”