Banks
Since the Paris Agreement, Nordic banks have poured 89.7 billion USD into the fossil fuel industry
Approximately 90% of new capital flowing into fossil fuel developers comes from banks, that lend money to the fossil fuel companies or underwrite their issuance of bonds. Accordingly, banks are a major driver of fossil fuel expansion and the escalation of the climate crisis. Ten major Nordic banks have poured $ 89.7 billion USD into fossil fuels since the adoption of the Paris Agreement.
At the Nordic Center for Sustainable Finance, we aim to stop this money flow. We screen the financing and investment portfolios of 10 major Nordic banks - exposing how they continue to fund coal, oil and gas companies around the world. Our findings are published in the biannual report “Banking on Thin Ice”. Here you can get an overview of Nordic banks’ relations to the fossil fuel industry as well as their financing for companies active in Arctic oil and gas production, that endanger vulnerable ecosystems and escalate the climate crisis.
By holding the financial sector accountable for their fossil fuel financing, we create change. So far, three Nordic banks have made groundbreaking policies that prevent them from granting new loans or refinancing to fossil fuel companies that still expand their fossil fuel production. The three banks are: Danske Bank, Nykredit and Handelsbanken. On the other side of the spectrum, however, DNB, SEB, and Nordea are still pouring money into fossil fuel developers.
Furthermore, we engage with politicians on both national and EU levels to regulate the financial sector and to put a ban on financing new fossil fuel projects and the companies behind them. You can read our proposals for green regulation of the banking sector in our report: “A sustainable Banking Sector in Scandinavia”
RESOURCES
Danske Bank's policy on fossil fuels - an example to follow
March 2024
Danske Bank's new fossil fuel policy will see the bank divest from nearly all of the fossil fuel companies in its portfolio. The change has made Danske Bank one of the international climate leaders in the financial sector, setting an example for other banks and pensions fund to follow.
Complaint about marketing by Danske Bank to the Danish Comsumer Ombudsman
March 2023
In March 2023 ActionAid Denmark lodged a complaint over Danske Bank with the Danish Consumer Ombudsman after discovering fossil fuel investments amounting to half a billion DKK in the banks green investment funds.
Analysis of Danske Bank’s Climate Action Plan
January 2023
A brief analysis of Danske Bank’s Climate Action Plan highlighting how there is a gap in the new plan as Danske Bank will stop providing loans for fossil fuel companies that are expanding, but will continue to invest in those same companies.
Banking on thin ice 2
November 2022
This report provides an overview of the financial relationships between 10 major Nordic banks and the fossil fuel industry, as well as the policies the banks have in place to regulate their links to the industry.
A sustainable banking sector in Denmark
May 2022
The report proposes 3 regulatory measures of how politicians can make the Banking Sector in Scandinavia and the EU more sustainable.
Banking on thin ice 1
February 2021
This report provides the first ever overview of the financial relationships between 10 major Nordic banks and the fossil fuel industry, as well as the policies the banks have in place to regulate their links to the industry.