It’s Monday, October 12, and HSBC is the latest bank to pledge to be net-zero by 2050.
Last week, the London-based bank HSBC hopped on the net-zero train. HSBC laid out a number of new climate commitments: It will reduce the emissions of its own operations and supply chains to net-zero by 2030, reduce the carbon footprint of its client portfolio to net-zero by 2050, provide up to $1 trillion in financing over the next 10 years to help those customers make the transition, and invest $100 million in clean technologies.
HSBC’s announcement follows a steady stream of commitments by major banks to better align their activities with the 2016 Paris Agreement. Last Tuesday, JPMorgan Chase upped its previous baby step to curb lending to some coal companies and stop financing fossil fuel exploration in the Arctic with a new pledge to set 2030 emissions targets for each sector of its portfolio and achieve net-zero across its operations. Morgan Stanley has also set a target to zero out emissions across its financing activities by 2050.
HSBC is Europe’s second-largest financier of fossil fuel companies, and climate advocacy groups railed against the bank for not moving to end its financing of coal, oil, and gas projects, despite its new commitments. However, HSBC did promise to provide regular disclosures on its progress.
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