Virginia Furness is the sustainable banking editor of Capital Monitor and joins from Euromoney where she was most recently the Middle East and Africa editor. With a decade covering the financial markets, during which she worked in senior editorial roles at Reuters and Global Capital, Virginia is focused on holding to account the ESG commitments made by the world’s most influential banking institutions.
Banks say they can help build scale in voluntary carbon markets, by providing services from market-making to deal origination and stewardship. But some say it is too early for such intervention, arguing that profits still need to go into developing technologies.
Banks globally are grappling with the challenge of decarbonising their lending portfolios. Dutch lender ING has devised sector pathways for the nine most emissions-heavy sectors in its loan book – here’s how it did so.
With investors pushing back on what they see as weak or immaterial claims by issuers of sustainability-linked debt, banks are now citing similar concerns – though they are still arranging deals seen as questionable.
Banks account for around half of the $130trn in private capital Mark Carney said at the Cop26 summit was aligned with net zero, but there is widespread scepticism about the announcement. Senior executives from some of the biggest lenders give Capital Monitor their take.
The lender is the first globally to release a comprehensive sustainability strategy to exit fossil fuels and the first in Europe to have its climate goals validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative. We speak to its CEO about why he believes such moves make good business sense.
Last month the Japanese bank joined the growing list of its peers pledging to hit net zero by 2050. But how will it achieve that and what will it mean in terms of impact, given the firm derives most of its revenues from wholesale banking and has little exposure to high-carbon sectors?
Pressure is growing for prudential measures to help tackle the climate crisis, with banks facing a rise in estimated credit losses of up to 20% in a 'hot-house' scenario. But bankers say climate-related stress tests should not lead to more capital requirements, and some propose alternatives.
CIB is leading the charge among Egypt's banks to build a sustainable finance market, with help from the International Finance Corporation and at the behest of the central bank. Corporates are showing rising interest in issuing green bonds but will face ESG reporting from next year.
The US bank recently acquired NN Investment Partners and is offering tools to help clients with their low-carbon transition, says sustainable finance head John Goldstein. But its climate policies and disclosure lag behind industry best practice, though there are plans to remedy that.
Lloyds Bank is leading efforts among UK lenders to provide easier access to financial services for the rising number of refugees in the country, most recently from Afghanistan. But they could do a lot more, as France’s BNP Paribas is showing elsewhere.
The embattled Swiss bank has cut lending to heavy polluters and is analysing its loan book's carbon intensity and clients' 'transition readiness', but has been slow to set emission-reduction targets. Two of Credit Suisse's top ESG and sustainability executives set out its thinking.
The UK is about to launch its first green sovereign bond programme, which will incorporate innovative social indicators. Senior banking executives expect it to boost the corporate debt market, but want more specifics on impact benchmarking targets and deadlines.
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