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.
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.
The British bank is calculating a carbon budget that should lead to an overhaul of its balance sheet. Starting by tightening financing policy for the oil and gas sector, the group will introduce a series of emissions-led sector targets by 2022. A bold move, but critics argue the plans lack clarity.
Used as part of a broader set of tools to assess banks, investors say the new reporting requirement will determine which institutions are taking green finance seriously. However, it lacks the sensitivity to capture transition finance, for example.
The multilateral finance institution is developing a renewable energy platform that it aims to list in London to lure more investment to Africa. Capital Monitor spoke to two top executives about the plans.
The German lender is turning down more deals that do not satisfy its increasingly strict sustainability criteria. But it still faces criticism for its financing of high-carbon industries.
Capital must reach even the most challenging markets if the UN Sustainable Development Goals are to be met. Hiring former rebels to maintain peace is not something most investors ever have – or want – to think about, but they need to.
The Togo-based group expects its debut sustainable bond and new sustainable finance framework to help it adopt a more climate-friendly strategy and expand SDG-aligned funding across the continent, says chief risk officer Eric Odhiambo.
Privately owned companies are integrating ESG disclosure into their financing agreements at the fastest rate on record as new sustainability regulations and shifting investor demand push one of the most secret market segments to come out.
Highly polluting companies need trillions of dollars of funding to reduce their carbon emissions. Transition bonds are mooted as one solution, but investors are far from convinced.
One of the world’s most influential financiers of oil and gas remains reluctant to threaten clients with funding cuts as a means to hit net zero. The US bank argues its investment-led approach to reducing carbon intensity within sector hotspots goes far enough.
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