HSBC delays carbon pledge citing government ‘lag'

Net zero pushed to 2050 as head office cutbacks to come

- REBECCA SPEARE-COLE

HSBC has pushed back a climate target to reduce planet-heating emissions caused by its operations and supply chain by 20 years.

Publishing its annual results, in which it confirmed a round of job cuts and cost-cutting plans, the UK’s largest bank announced sweeping updates to its strategy to achieve net zero emissions as a firm by 2050.

The lender set an interim goal in 2020 to achieve net zero across its own operations and supply chain by 2030, compared to where it was in 2019 as a baseline year. But it will now aim to meet this goal by 2050. And in a move that could prove more significant for its climate ambitions, HSBC also announced a review of its 2030 targets to reduce emissions caused by its financing of polluting firms.

The bank previously acknowledged its “heavy financed emissions footprint” and introduced sector-specific targets to cut lending to industries like oil and gas, power and utilities, cement, aviation and steel in recent years. It expects to publish the results of the 2030 targets review later this year.

The firm is seeking to slash costs by £1.2bn by the end of 2026. It will look to reduce its global staff costs by 8 per cent, with senior managers and those in its newly merged wholesale corporate and institutional arm set to be in the line of fire.