(29 May 2018 – UK) Royal Bank of Scotland has announced that it will stop providing project-specific funding for new coal-fired power stations and thermal coal mines, and for any oil sands projects, Arctic oil projects and unsustainable vegetation and peatland clearance projects.
The bank, which is 71 percent state-owned will also stop general lending to mining companies that rely or coal for more than 40 percent of their revenues and power companies that generate more than 40 percent of their electricity from coal.
RBS is the latest bank to stop financing environmentally damaging energy and mining projects, following similar moves by HSBC, BNP Paribas and ING as investors ramp up pressure on lenders to do more about climate change risks.
The bank’s director of sustainable banking, Kirsty Britz, said, “If we’re going to support our customers in the long run, then it means addressing the challenge of climate change and the risks and opportunities it presents.”