<\/p>\n
Banks in Singapore have the most detailed and ambitious decarbonisation policies among advanced economies in Asia, according to a recent report by sustainability-focused consulting company Asia Research and Engagement (ARE).<\/p>\n
The report by ARE assessed the climate goals of nine banks in Singapore, Japan and South Korea across their policy, governance and risk management actions.<\/p>\n
According to the report, the three Singapore banks \u2013 DBS Bank, OCBC Bank and UOB \u2013 are the only ones in advanced Asia that have set targets, both medium- and long-term, on how they plan to reduce financed emissions for key carbon-intensive sectors that are aligned with a pathway that limits global warming to no more than 1.5 deg C.<\/p>\n
They also have the most ambitious decarbonisation policies to reduce emissions in the oil and gas sector. OCBC and UOB have pledged to cease financing for the upstream portion of the value chain, while DBS has set a 2050 target to reduce the absolute financed emissions in the sector.<\/p>\n
The report noted that they are the only banks in advanced Asia that have included facilitated emissions \u2013 which refer to off-balance-sheet emissions arising from capital market services and transactions \u2013 in their net-zero-by-2050 commitments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Singapore banks\u2019 plans represent the most comprehensive plans among Asian banks to align financing of carbon-intensive industries with global benchmarks such as the International Energy Agency\u2019s net-zero emissions scenario,\u201d read the ARE report released.<\/p>\n
In contrast, while the Japanese and South Korean banks have sectoral targets, the report found them to be narrower in scope and less detailed. For example, the three Japanese banks assessed in the report \u2013 Mizuho, MUFG and Sumitomo Mitsui \u2013 have set only 2030 targets for key carbon-intensive sectors. These targets are also not based on a 1.5 deg C scenario.<\/p>\n
As for the South Korean banks, the three assessed \u2013 Hana, KB and Shinhan \u2013 have not set targets for the oil and gas sector.<\/p>\n
All six Japanese and South Korean banks have also not made any public commitment to stop the financing of new upstream oil and gas projects, though some have plans to restrict the financing of such activities.<\/p>\n
Fossil fuel financing<\/p>\n
However, while the Singapore banks may be leading the pack on several fronts, the report also noted that they have not committed to a deadline for ending the financing of the oil and gas sector altogether.<\/p>\n
This includes both the upstream drilling and production of oil and gas, as well as the downstream refining, processing and distribution, or from gas-fired power generation assets.<\/p>\n
This is also the case for the six Japanese and South Korean banks.<\/p>\n
DBS\u2019 targets for the oil and gas sector cover upstream, downstream and integrated companies, and it is targeting the reduction of absolute financed emissions by 92 per cent in 2050 from its 2020 levels.<\/p>\n
OCBC\u2019s targets for the sector \u2013 which are to cut absolute financed emissions by 95 per cent in 2050 from its 2021 levels \u2013 cover only upstream and integrated companies. The bank had previously stated that its commitments to cease financing for upstream oil and gas would eventually have spillover effects on downstream operations.<\/p>\n
As for UOB, while it has opted to end financing for upstream oil and gas, it has not set a reduction target for the sector\u2019s financed emissions. It had previously said that it was trying to phase out downstream oil and gas \u2013 which is where the most greenhouse gas is emitted \u2013 through financing restrictions on other sectors, such as power and automotive.<\/p>\n
Including its policies to end thermal coal financing, DBS and OCBC have gone the furthest to phase out fossil fuel financing among all nine banks covered, the report said.<\/p>\n
However, the report also noted that by targeting emissions instead of financing itself, the two banks have left open a window to keep financing fossil fuel activities from clients if greenhouse gas emissions from their activities are abated through technologies such as carbon capture and storage or direct air capture.<\/p>\n
ARE recommends that all nine banks establish a policy on new upstream oil and gas projects, as well as a long-term policy on oil and gas financing covering the entire supply chain, from upstream to downstream.<\/p>\n
As for thermal coal financing, all three Singapore banks have made commitments to cease financing for the sector.<\/p>\n
While the report recognises that all nine banks have more ambitious policies to wind down thermal coal financing as compared with the oil and gas sector, it also recommended that they set policies that ensure a total withdrawal of corporate financing to coal companies and eliminate loopholes allowing financing in certain circumstances.<\/p>\n
The report indicated that there are heightened expectations for banks to accelerate efforts to meet the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, and in the region\u2019s most advanced economies \u2013 Japan, Singapore and South Korea \u2013 banks are well placed to spearhead the region\u2019s energy transition and profit from a long-term industry shift.<\/p>\n
\u201cBanks should decisively accelerate efforts to decarbonise finance to capture opportunity and avoid the risk that falling fossil fuel demand and regulatory shifts render fossil fuel-related assets obsolete,\u201d read the report.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey need to urgently accelerate efforts to achieve a low-carbon future. While they have taken promising steps, they will need to go much further to support a timely energy transition,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Banks in Singapore have the most detailed and ambitious decarbonisation policies among advanced economies in Asia, according to a recent report by sustainability-focused consulting company Asia Research and Engagement (ARE). The report by ARE assessed the climate goals of nine banks in Singapore, Japan and South Korea across their policy, governance and risk management actions. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bez-rubriki"],"featured_image_src":{"landsacpe":["https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/DBS-50-1140x445.jpeg",1140,445,true],"list":["https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/DBS-50-463x348.jpeg",463,348,true],"medium":["https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/DBS-50-300x200.jpeg",300,200,true],"full":["https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/DBS-50.jpeg",1920,1280,false]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2396"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2398,"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2396\/revisions\/2398"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}