Climate action at ING

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. The economy must transform its business models into more sustainable and low-emission ones; the financial sector can play an important role in this. As a bank, we want to help align economic growth with environmental and social action.

Aligning financing with net zero targets

As a bank, we take our role in the transition to a sustainable economy seriously and have therefore embedded the topic of sustainability as a key element in our strategy. It is more important to us to make progress together with our customers and to align our own portfolio step by step with sustainability targets than to present perfect solutions.

We call this approach Terra and record our progress in our annual Climate Report, based on current scientific targets that we regularly review and adjust. For example, in December 2023, we announced that we will phase out the financing of all upstream oil and gas production by 2040 and triple the new financing of electricity generation from renewable energies from EUR 2.5 billion in 2022 to EUR 7.5 billion annually by 2025. In doing so, we are following the agreements reached at COP28 and the latest scenarios of the International Energy Association (IEA).

Changing sectors from within

But why don't we stop financing oil and gas entirely? The global economy is still heavily based on fossil fuels. 80 percent of global energy demand, for example for heating, transportation, or industry, is still covered by fossil fuels. This proportion cannot be reduced over night; the transition will take time. We are therefore working with our customers on sustainable solutions for the future and rewarding their efforts, for example through special financing solutions that link interest conditions to the achievement of certain sustainability targets at company level. Interest in this type of financing instrument has grown strongly in recent years, as shown by the market for syndicated loans, for example.

As a large part of the energy supply continues to be supplied by fossil fuels, an immediate phase-out of oil and gas financing would also reduce the supply of energy and lead to a sharp rise in energy prices for many consumers and industry. An affordable and secure energy supply is therefore just as important as continuing to drive forward decarbonization.   

So, although we finance many sustainable activities, we are still financing more projects that are not sustainable. This reflects the current state of the global economy. Nevertheless, we are working to make our portfolio ever more sustainable. We believe that we can best achieve this challenge in collaboration with our customers.

You can find more information about our sustainability ambitions at www.ing.com/climate