ActionAid pulls accounts from HSBC over climate damage 'worth £128bn'

ActionAid UK has accused HSBC of “choosing profit over people and planet” - saying it is pulling the “majority” of its accounts from the banking giant over the funding of climate-damaging projects.

- NICK FERRIS CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT

New research carried out by the charity and consultancy Profundo alleges that HSBC’s financing of fossil fuels and industrial agriculture between 2021 and 2023 is linked to an estimated £128bn in climate-related damage ~ a figure nearly three times the £43.4bn the bank made in net profit over the same period.

This figure was reached using the social cost of carbon model, which estimates the economic damages that result from emitting one additional tonne of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The impact of HSBC’s funding was assessed at 323 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, causing damage worth £128bn.

The findings come just months after HSBC announced that it would delay its target to reach net zero across its own operations by two decades, from 2030 to 2050. Recent analysis from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and The Independent also found that HSBC has been undermining a key pledge to stop funding companies that were increasing coal production. HSBC says it has a clear set of sustainability risk policies, with the aim of getting its portfolio to net zero by 2050.

As a result of the latest research, ActionAid said that it is moving “the majority” of its accounts away from HSBC, after “years of raising the alarm over its climate and human rights record”.

“HSBC’s investments show it is choosing profit over people and planet,” said Hannah Bond, co-CEO at ActionAid UK. “Moving our money is not just symbolic; it’s a vital first step in challenging destructive financial systems and standing firmly by our values.”