BNP, Santander, Barclays Rank as Best on Financed CO2 Emissions.
BNP Paribas SA, Banco Santander SA and Barclays Plc stand out as the best among banks in terms of their current and forecast financed CO2 emissions, according to analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence.
Financed emissions are a measurement of greenhouse gases associated with a bank’s investments and lending activities to some of the most carbon-intensive industries. The data can be used to help determine a financial institution’s overall carbon footprint.
Just 28 of the 53 largest global banks tracked by BI have set financed-emissions reduction targets for 2030 for the oil and gas, power generation, cement and steel industries that align with the benchmark for the International Energy Agency’s net zero by 2050 roadmap.
Lending to these sectors fell 41% in 2023, driven by oil and gas-lending reductions. Going forward, the expectation is that assuming the banks don’t have “exclusion policies” in place, financing will increase as cash flows ease for most fossil-fuel companies and the reliance on bank funding rebounds, said BI analyst Grace Osborne.
The result is that most of the largest European banks have better BI Carbon Scores than their US competitors. For example, BNP Paribas’ score is 8.96, compared with Citigroup Inc.’s 7.33; and Santander’s score is 8.85, topping Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s 6.92. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s score is 6.29, Bank of America Corp.’s is 5.16 and Wells Fargo & Co.’s is 5.40.
Source: BNNBLOOMBERG
