Big banks urged to step up on sustainable finance in 2025
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Europe’s 20 largest banks – including Barclays, Lloyds, Santander, HSBC and NatWest – are being urged to step up efforts on sustainable finance as the year comes to a close. ShareAction, which campaigns for responsible investment, has written to the banks’ chief executives to call on them to set climate targets based in science to show how they are funding sectors crucial for the net-zero transition.
The charity warned the banks that they can expect to see shareholder action next year if they fail to meet investor expectations for greener practices. It comes after ShareAction recently found that while all 20 banks had set a sector-specific target for decarbonisation and cutting emissions, only nine had set one for sustainable finance – funding for sectors like renewable energy and infrastructure.
Banks were also rarely found to provide a breakdown of how much sustainable financing they would provide to each sector. Kelly Shields, senior campaign manager at ShareAction, said: “The role that we need Europe’s biggest banks to play in financing our transition to net-zero economies cannot be underestimated.
“Unless banks act now to increase ambition, the finance needed to scale up areas like clean energy and the rollout of green infrastructure will simply not be available. “Crucially, investors want to see banks set targets grounded in science that clearly show how they will finance the sectors like renewable energy that are critical to transitioning our economies and protecting people from dangerous levels of global heating.
