Drop in bank-financed carbon emissions across euro area banks

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), in collaboration with the European Central Bank (ECB), reports a measurable decline in bank-financed greenhouse gas emissions across euro area banks between 2018 and 2023.

• Main announcement/action: DNB/ECB publish statistics showing euro area bank-financed emissions fell from 165 million tonnes (2018) to 116 million tonnes (2023) (a 29% decrease). For the Netherlands specifically, Dutch banks’ financed emissions fell from 5.6 million tonnes (2018) to 3.0 million tonnes (2023) (-47%). The release is based on EU ETS and Eurostat AEA Scope 1 emissions and excludes mortgages, securities portfolios, Scope 2/3 and emissions outside Europe.
• Details and drivers: The decline is attributed mainly to higher corporate valuations (reducing banks’ share of financed emissions: 12 percentage points for the euro area, 18 percentage points for Dutch banks), actual firm emission reductions (16 percentage points for euro area; 5 percentage points for Dutch banks), and a loan-portfolio shift to lower-emission sectors (Dutch banks 24 percentage points vs euro area 3 percentage points). Euro area corporate loans totaled €4,035 billion (2023), of which €226 billion came from Dutch banks. These statistics are labelled analytical and are still under development with other euro area central banks.