The climate impact of trucks is largely overlooked by the financial sector. Yet, trucks are a major climate pollutant, and the sector is only transitioning slowly, far behind passenger cars. This is however about to change. The truck market is expected to see a rapid shift from sales of diesel to batteries, presenting a major business opportunity, but also a significant risk for truck manufacturers. For investors, it is high time to consider if investee truck manufacturers are aligned with the incoming changes. In this brief, the Nordic Center for Sustainable Finance recommends engaging Volvo Trucks and offers advice on how to get started, as NCSF believes that investor engagement could effectively contribute to a battery-electric transformation of Volvo.
This report shows, that while climate experts are issuing more and more dire warnings of what will happen if we fail to transition into a 1.5°C world, the biggest Nordic banks continue to pour billions of USD in financing and investments into coal, oil, and gas companies planning new fossil fuel projects that will bring this global climate goal out of reach. In the past two years (July 2022 to June 2024), the nine biggest Nordic banks provided $4.9 billion in financing to coal expanders and expanding oil and gas producers. DNB, SEB, and Nordea account for 95 percent of these loans. Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the nine banks have provided a total of $31 billion to these companies. The nine biggest Nordic banks also hold investments worth $6.0 billion in coal expanders and expanding oil and gas producers. DNB and Nordea account for 60 per cent of these investments. For coal expanders specifically, Nordea accounts for 52 percent of the investments, totaling $407 million.
This report finds that the Norwegian Oil Fund holds $6.15 billion in bonds in 39 oil and gas companies that are actively pursuing expansion projects incompatible with global climate goals. Among the 15 companies most financed through bonds by the Norwegian Oil Fund’s asset manager, NBIM, are global majors such as TotalEnergies, Exxon Mobil, BP and Eni. All of these companies are developing numerous controversial new oil and gas projects and lack credible transition plans.
investor brief: Need for ambitious climate action at AccelorMittal & Nippon Steel
The steel industry forms the backbone of production, construction, and infrastructure. At the same time, no industry has higher CO₂ emissions, as steel accounts for about 11% of global CO₂ emissions and 7-9% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. 90% of these emissions stem from the use of coal in blast furnaces. It is already possible to produce steel without coal today, but the transition is currently moving too slowly. Without further action, the steel industry risks depleting 23% of the world’s carbon budget for 2030-2050. In this brief the Nordic Center for Sustainable Finance recommends engaging ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel and offers advice on how to get started. As the world's second- and fourth-largest steel producers - and the two largest ones outside of China - these companies have a significant impact on the direction of the industry and whether the transition succeeds. Unfortunately, both companies are lagging.
In this roadmap we present 11 recommendations for political action the Danish Parliament can take to reduce the massive climate footprint of Denmark's financial sector. The Danish National Bank have recently published new calculations of the sector's financed emissions that puts the climate footprint of investments in listed companies at 100 million tonnes of CO2e - which is more than double the amount of the national footprint. Still there is no green political strategy for the financial sector.
This analysis shows that the Norwegian Oil Fund has invested a total of 189 billion NOK in coal companies, despite Norway's ambitions to be an international climate leader.
These investments are spread across 97 coal companies worldwide. 112 billion of the investments are placed in 47 companies that have expansion plans that contradict the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Denne analysen viser at det norske Oljefondet har investert hele 189 milliarder NOK i kullselskaper, til tross for Norges ambisjoner om å trekke Oljefondet ut av industrien og å være en internasjonal klimaleder.
Disse investeringene er fordelt på 97 kullselskaper verden over som driver med termisk kull for kraftproduksjon og metallurgisk kull for stålproduksjon. Noe av det mest bekymringsverdige ved funnene er at 112 milliarder er investert i 47 selskaper med ekspansjonsplaner som strider mot målene i Paris-avtalen.
Danske Bank's policy on fossil fuels - an example to follow
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.
This reports uncovers that 16 Danish pension funds have invested almost 25 billion DKK in the worst fossil fuel companies and their extraction of coal, oil, and gas. It also highligst significant differences in the climate behavior of the Danish pension funds. While PFA and Danica together account for 42% of the sector's most polluting investments, AP Pension and AkademikerPension only account for 1.3%.
This reports uncovers that despite the Norwegian Oil Fund stating it has sold out of coal and despite Norway’s repeated promises that the Fund will be an international climate leader, the fund still has tens of billions of Norwegian Kroner (NOK) invested in the industry.
Complaint about marketing by Danske Bank to the Danish Comsumer Ombudsman
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.
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.
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. From July 2020 – June 2022 the 10 banks have provided in total US$ 21.2 billion in loans and underwriting to the fossil fuel industry. Their total financing now amounts to US$ 89.7 billion since the adoption of the Paris Agreement. On average, there is a decreasing trend in oil and gas financing since 2016, driven mostly by Nordea and SEB. However, financing for companies expanding fossil fuels and coal companies has remained stable.
The insurance industry plays a crucial role in the green transition, but is often overlooked. This memo explains the insurance sector's role in financing fossil projects that drive the climate crisis – and why pension funds should actively address investments in the insurance companies.
This report uncovers how Denmark is providing international public finance to the fossil fuel industry and encourages Denmark to commit to ending all international public finance of fossil fuels before COP26.
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.
