HSBC investors demand renewed climate commitment after ‘deeply concerning signals’

A group of 30 HSBC shareholders managing €1.4 trillion in assets are calling on the bank to renew its commitment to the net zero transition at today’s AGM, vowing not to remain silent in the face of “deeply concerning signals”.

After years displaying strong climate leadership (including by stopping the direct financing of new oil and gas projects in 2022), HSBC’s recent actions suggest that it is backtracking on its climate commitments: in October last year, it demoted its Chief Sustainability Officer from the executive committee, leading to Celine Herweijer’s departure. 

And in February, the bank delayed its 2030 goal to achieve net zero emissions in its operations and supply chain by 20 years, at the same time as it reduced the weighting of environmental KPIs in its executive incentive scheme.

“After dropping its Chief Sustainability Officer from its executive committee and announcing plans to review its climate targets and policies in February, HSBC has sent deeply concerning signals around whether managing the rapidly multiplying financial risks of global heating is still one of its priorities,” said Jeanne Martin, Head of the Banking Programme at ShareAction, the NGO leading today’s investor call.

Revising targets amid growing climate risk 

Using the bank’s annual general meeting (AGM) as a platform, the shareholder group is asking HSBC to publicly state its commitment to keep building on its ambition to become a net zero bank by 2050 rather than weaken it, and to be consulted in its upcoming climate targets and policies review.  

“As one of the largest banks in the world with exposure across Europe and Asia, HSBC is even more vulnerable than some of its European peers to climate risks, such as the effects of extreme weather, which are already impacting the lives and livelihoods of communities across the world.

“This group of investors is calling on the bank to urgently affirm it will continue to build on its existing climate progress rather than backtrack, and to undertake this process in dialogue with shareholders. If the bank fails to do so it should not expect shareholders to remain silent,” added Martin.

HSBC involvement in fossil fuel industry

Despite its climate pledges, HSBC has been accused of continuing to support fossil fuel expansion: in 2024, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) found that in the year since HSBC’s ‘no new oil and gas’ policy was announced, the bank had helped raise more than US$47bn for companies expanding oil and gas production – circumventing its own policy through “clever wording”.

And this week, another TBIJ investigation accused the bank of “bulldozing” its 2021 policy to stop funding companies that were increasing coal production, by helping raise US$1 billion for mining firm Glencore in May 2023 – even after the company had increased its coal output.

“Despite its own ‘green’ rhetoric and what they would like the public to see and think about their ethics, HSBC is clearly falling short, neglecting its responsibility to the planet while keeping its customers in the dark about the true impact of its financing,” Zahra Hdidou, senior climate and resilience advisor at nonprofit and HSBC customer ActionAid, told TBIJ, commenting on the findings.