FINANCING GLENCORE

The report details Glencore's expansion of coal capacity and the role of European banks in financing these activities through bond issuances, highlighting loopholes in bank coal policies.

• Glencore is pursuing 17 thermal and metallurgical coal mining expansions across Australia, South Africa, Canada, Russia, and Kazakhstan, with plans to increase coal production by nearly 30%.
• The 2024 acquisition of Elk Valley Resources (EVR) met coal mines in Canada significantly increased Glencore's metallurgical coal reserves, raising its share of global met coal trade from 3% to 9%.
• Between January 2024 and April 2025, 20 major banks participated in 12 Glencore bond issuances totaling US$8 billion, with nearly half of these banks being European.
• European banks utilize several policy loopholes to justify financing Glencore, including inadequate revenue thresholds, restrictions that apply only to new customers, and phase-out deadlines that do not align with IEA 1.5°C scenarios.
• While some European banks like ING and HSBC have restrictions on metallurgical coal, these policies only cover project-level financing and do not prevent general corporate financing for met coal developers.

APA

Rocamora, C., & Louvel, Y. (2025). FINANCING GLENCORE. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Financing-Glencore-May-2025.pdf

Chicago

Rocamora, Cynthia, and Yann Louvel. FINANCING GLENCORE. Reclaim Finance, 2025. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Financing-Glencore-May-2025.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Rocamora |first1=Cynthia |last2=Louvel |first2=Yann |title=FINANCING GLENCORE |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=May 2025 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Financing-Glencore-May-2025.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rocamora2025financing, author = {Rocamora, Cynthia and Louvel, Yann}, title = {{FINANCING GLENCORE}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2025}, month = may, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Financing-Glencore-May-2025.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }