Wednesday 20 April 2022

Taiwanese bank pledges to phase out coal by 2035

Taiwanese bank E.SUN FHC has made a commitment to stop investing in and providing financing for coal and unconventional oil and gas industries by the end of 2035.

Its new policy applies to all subsidiaries and overseas locations and includes the active management of carbon emissions from financial assets, increasing green assets, reducing grey assets in investment and financing and promoting social energy transformation and global climate goals through the allocation of financial resources.

The bank addresses companies with more than 5% of their revenue from business activities in coal – including coal-fired power generation, coal mining and infrastructure, coal trading and transport - and unconventional oil and gas, including tar sands, shale oil and gas, Arctic oil and gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from unconventional fossil fuels.

E.SUN FHC stopped financing coal-fired power plants in 2019 as part of its efforts towards a low carbon transition.

Its 2050 net zero goal has been approved by the Science-based Targets initiative (SBTi) and is said to be the first financial institution in Taiwan and the second in Asia to complete the SBTi target review.