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Dutch banking giant to stop providing finance for new oil and gas field developers and could drop clients that fail to deliver credible net zero plans
European banking giant ING has today set out new measures to further restrict financing for oil and gas companies from 2026, signalling it could drop clients that fail to adequately address their carbon footprint.
The company today published its annual Climate Progress Update, confirming it will stop providing new general financing to "pure-play" upstream oil and gas companies that continue to develop new oil and gas fields with immediate effect - with the exception of specific green projects.
The Netherlands' biggest financier of oil and gas, with outstanding loans of €17.1bn in 2023, told Reuters that the change could affect 25 clients representing around €1bn of lending.
The covers only a fraction of its overall €656bn of lending, but a high volume of the carbon emissions linked to its financing activity.
In addition, the new policy commits ING to halting the provision of new financing for new liquefied natural gas export terminals from 2025 onwards.
The latest pledges build on an ING commitment to phase out all upstream oil and gas financing by 2040, which the bank made last year.
ING also revealed it has assessed the sustainability disclosures of around 2,000 of its largest clients as part of efforts better support them in their net zero transitions, with initial findings revealing around a third are not disclosing enough information about their transition plans. However, half are said to meet the bank's most advanced reporting standards.
Steven van Rijswijk, CEO of ING, warned that companies had until 2026 to make sufficient progress in line with the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
"The urgency of climate change is becoming more evident all the time and ING wants to play a leading role in accelerating the global transition to a low-carbon economy," he told the FT. "We all have a part to play, and we can all make the difference for present and future generations if we work together towards the same goals."
As well as setting out new restrictions on fossil fuel finance, ING revealed it has expanded the scope its efforts to steer the most carbon-intensive sectors in its loan portfolio towards global climate goals.
The lender's so-called "Terra" approach will now cover the aluminium and dairy industries, bringing the number of sectors reached by the engagement strategy to 12. The bank said eight sectors were almost on track to meet climate goals, with two sectors behind schedule and two not yet assessed.
"I am proud to see our climate approach keep on developing every year," added van Rijswijk. "In the past year, we've taken several important steps to sharpen the way we engage with clients on their transition towards net zero.
"We assessed the sustainability disclosures of around 2,000 of our largest clients with an online tool we've developed. This gives us the foundation for more data-informed discussions with our clients about their progress and how we can support them in their transition and drive down their emissions."
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