HSBC calls halt to funding of dirty coal in green move

HSBC is to stop funding one of the dirtiest forms of coal with immediate effect, months after one of its former top executives criticised “shrill, partisan, self-serving, apocalyptic warnings” on green investment.

The bank’s £532bn asset management unit said it would stop all new investments in companies that expand the use of thermal coal.

Thermal coal is burned to generate electricity across much of the world, including in Asia where many of HSBC’S clients are based. However, it is highly polluting. In December, HSBC pledged to cut coal financing by at least 25pc by 2025 and 50pc by 2030.

The move to stop funding thermal coal comes months after Stuart Kirk, the former global head of responsible investing at HSBC Asset Management, attacked climate activists for “unsubstantiated, shrill, partisan, self-serving, apocalyptic warnings” in a speech.