GHG Emissions, Commercial, Finance  -  February 7, 2017

Deutsche Bank to stop new coal project financing

Citing climate impacts, Deutsche Bank recently announced that it will stop granting new financing for greenfield thermal coal mining as well as new coal-fired power plant construction. 

In a Jan. 31 statement, the German global banking and financial services company said it will also begin to gradually reduce its current exposure to the thermal coal mining sector, sending a clear message to the U.S. energy market. Deutsche Bank has been a leading investor in the clean energy and energy efficiency markets for years; the announcement aligns with its public energy and climate strategy. 

Deutsche Bank said in its statement: 

"By signing the Paris Pledge for Action alongside over 400 private and public organizations, the bank has welcomed the universal climate agreement made at the 2015 Climate Summit in Paris. This emphasizes the bank’s commitment to protect the climate and to contribute to the overall targets set by the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels."

Within its own operations since 2008, the bank says it has invested in in energy efficiency measures, purchased electricity from renewable sources, and offset unavoidable emissions by purchasing certificates from high-quality emission reduction projects. Those efforts resulted in Deutsche Bank's achievement of carbon neutrality for its business operations in 2012, according to its most recent sustainability report.  

"A changing global climate poses risks to people and the world’s economy, affecting the productivity of nation states, the availability of resources, the price of energy and the value of businesses," the bank said in the 2015 report. "The financial sector has a critical role to play in creating the infrastructure needed to facilitate the transition to a low-carbon economy."

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