RBS Pledges End to Coal Funding, Stricter Oil Rules
February 14 2020 - 6:32AM
Dow Jones News
By Dieter Holger
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC said Friday that it would
end financing for coal by 2030 and place stricter rules on
oil-and-gas majors, joining other banks that have made similar
sustainability moves as investors and the public demand action on
climate change.
"Today marks a new era," said Alison Rose, chief executive of
RBS, who took the helm in November.
RBS said it would end coal financing by 2030 and stop lending
and underwriting companies with more than 15% of their activities
related to coal by the end of 2021, unless they have a transition
plan in line with the Paris Agreement. It also pledged to halt
lending and underwriting major oil-and-gas producers without a
transition plan by 2021.
The bank, which is set to rebrand as Natwest Group PLC later
this year, said it would halve the climate impact of all financing
by 2030 and double funding for climate and sustainable finance to
20 billion pounds ($26 billion) by 2022.
RBS's move comes as the British government--and the European
Union--aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 and is set to host
the next global climate change conference, COP26, in Glasgow this
year. The European Commission has estimated that, including the
U.K. which has exited the EU, it could cost up to 575 billion euros
($624.4 billion) a year for the bloc's 28 member states to hit the
climate ambition, or around $18.7 trillion over the next 30
years.
"This will be a significant challenge as we, like others, do not
yet fully understand what this will require and how it will be
achieved, not least as there is currently no standard industry
methodology or approach," Ms. Rose said.
Write to Dieter Holger at dieter.holger@wsj.com;
@dieterholger
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 14, 2020 06:17 ET (11:17 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE:RBS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE:RBS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024