ING Bank phasing out financing for projects based on coal power

ING Bank NV said it will avoid funding projects that rely on coal power, drastically reducing the bank’s exposure to the non-renewable energy source by 2025.

In a statement on Wednesday, ING said that with immediate effect, it will seek out clients in the utilities sector with under 10% exposure to coal power.

By the end of 2025, it intends to bring this ratio down to 5%. However, the bank will continue to fund non-coal energy projects to support coal-dependent clients transitioning to cleaner energy sources.

“This is a sharp reduction from the coal policy update that was launched ahead of the Paris Climate Conference in 2015... At that time, we said we’d no longer finance any new clients whose business is over 50% reliant on operating coal-fired power plants,” the statement read.

Meanwhile, the Dutch bank will phase out its lending to coal-fired power plants by the end of 2025. This is in support to its 2015 decision to refrain from funding that type of power plant, excluding standing commitments.

“We [realize] that contributing to the Paris Agreement targets is also about making clear choices in what we’ll no longer finance, especially when there are good alternatives available,” ING Vice-Chairman Koos Timmermans was quoted as saying in the statement.

“We are taking this decisive step as part of our overall ambition to support the energy transition,” he added.

ING has been supporting sustainable energy projects as well as those seeking to mitigate climate change.

The bank has provided financial support for renewable energy projects worth €29 billion, in addition to €4 billion in direct loan exposure to renewables at end- November. This amounts to 60% of ING’s total utilities sector portfolio.

ING served as the lead arranger for the 150-megawatt Burgos Wind Farm in Ilocos Norte in 2014. —