EUROPEAN BANKS AND TRANSITION: Time for a reality check

The report finds that the 20 largest European banks provided US$200.3 billion to companies expanding upstream and midstream oil and gas between 2021 and 2023, with Barclays and HSBC as the largest supporters. Despite net zero pledges, most banks lack robust policies to end corporate financing for fossil fuel expansion, and financing to diversified oil and gas companies remains overwhelmingly directed toward fossil fuel activities rather than sustainable transitions.

• Between 2021 and 2023, the 20 largest European banks provided US$200.3 billion to companies expanding upstream and midstream oil and gas, representing approximately 20% of global financing for such developers during that period.
• Barclays and HSBC were the largest financiers of oil and gas expansion between 2021 and 2023, providing US$22.2 billion and US$22.1 billion respectively.
• Financing for oil and gas expansion has continued into 2024, with 166 transactions identified from the 20 largest European banks to developers as of September 10, 2024.
• Most European banks have weak exclusion policies; while 11 of the 20 banks analyzed stopped project financing for new oil and gas fields, only four restrict financing to the companies that develop these projects.
• BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole have improved by abstaining from conventional bond issuances for the oil and gas upstream sector, but both continue to finance new LNG export terminals.
• Financing provided by the 20 largest European banks to the six largest European integrated oil and gas companies is primarily for fossil fuel activities, with only about 28% allocated to non-fossil fuel activities between 2021 and 2023.
• Six banks increased their support for oil and gas expansion between 2021 and 2023, including Intesa Sanpaolo, UniCredit, BBVA, and Santander.
• The report argues that 'financed emissions' targets used by 14 of the 15 banks that adopted them may be misleading, as they can show reductions even if corporate emissions or financing volumes do not decrease, provided the corporate value of the portfolio increases.

APA

Werlé, N.-P., Joyeux, R., & Williams, C. (2024). EUROPEAN BANKS AND TRANSITION: Time for a reality check. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Europeans-banks-and-transition-time-for-a-reality-check.pdf

Chicago

Werlé, Noam-Pierre, Romain Joyeux, and Clara Williams. EUROPEAN BANKS AND TRANSITION: Time for a reality check. Reclaim Finance, 2024. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Europeans-banks-and-transition-time-for-a-reality-check.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Werlé |first1=Noam-Pierre |last2=Joyeux |first2=Romain |last3=Williams |first3=Clara |title=EUROPEAN BANKS AND TRANSITION: Time for a reality check |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=November 2024 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Europeans-banks-and-transition-time-for-a-reality-check.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{werl2024european, author = {Werlé, Noam-Pierre and Joyeux, Romain and Williams, Clara}, title = {{EUROPEAN BANKS AND TRANSITION: Time for a reality check}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2024}, month = nov, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Europeans-banks-and-transition-time-for-a-reality-check.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }