Urgewald estimated that commercial banks provided $467 billion of loans and underwriting to thermal-coal companies from 2022 through 2025. The campaign group’s latest Still Banking on Coal research covered 744 commercial banks worldwide. The total represents an annual average of about $117 billion.
The study covers lending and underwriting for companies on Urgewald’s Global Coal Exit List. That list includes businesses across thermal-coal mining, power generation, trading, transport and related equipment. The methodology excludes export-credit agencies and multilateral development banks. Metallurgical coal companies are also outside its scope.
REGIONAL TRENDS MOVED IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS
Urgewald said financing from UK banks to the coal industry grew by 17% since the Glasgow COP. The increase was mainly driven by Barclays and, to a lesser degree, HSBC. That direction contrasted with reductions recorded across the European Union and in several Asian markets.
The report said reduced coal financing by banks in Europe and parts of Asia was offset by increases from Chinese, US, Indonesian and South Korean banks. “Coal financing is not disappearing – but it is concentrating in banks and markets where coal policies are either missing or weak,” said Urgewald director Heffa Schücking.
METHODOLOGY SHAPES THE NUMBERS
Urgewald allocates syndicated transactions among participating banks and adjusts financing according to the coal-related share of a company’s business. It draws on commercial financial databases, company reporting, media archives and research by Profundo and partner organisations. The group acknowledges that gaps or errors in underlying databases can affect the results.
HSBC told The Guardian it had committed to phasing out financing for thermal coal-fired power and thermal coal mining by 2030 in EU and OECD markets and by 2040 elsewhere, while Barclays said it did not finance companies generating more than 30% of revenues from thermal coal mining or power generation.