Credit Suisse Aims to Almost Halve Emissions Financing to Fossil Fuels

Credit Suisse, which is the second-largest bank in Switzerland, said on Thursday that it is striving to will have nearly halved the emissions financing fossil fuels by 2030. According to Reuters, Credit Suisse hopes to reduce its exposure to financing emissions from oil, gas and coal during the current decade.

The Swiss bank cut its emissions exposure from oil, gas and coal by 41% between 2020 and 2021, preliminary estimates in a sustainability report showed on Thursday. At the time, it had about $2.6 billion in loans to such clients.

The report marks the first time the bank has disclosed its exposure to financing fossil fuel emissions, which it estimates at 21,9 tonnes of CO2 equivalent for 2021.

In late 2019, Credit Suisse adjusted its coal policy following pressure from environmental groups, and from 2020 on it will stop lending to companies that generate more than 25% of their revenue from thermal coal mining or coal power plants.

According to Credit Suisse’s sustainability report published simultaneously with details of executive pay cuts for 2021, the bank cut its potential exposure to coal mining companies by 39% to $640 million at end-2021, compared with a reduction of 25% from 2020 to $9.8 billion in its exposure to oil and gas companies.

In addition, the bank said 2021 figures are still preliminary estimates based on last year’s lending exposure with client data on emissions and finances. By the end of 2022, it expects to set further sector-specific goals.

Credit Suisse 2021 Figures

Credit Suisse suffered a net loss of 1.57 billion Swiss francs ($1.7 billion) in 2021. In addition, the lender’s business was impacted by the litigation provisions and slowdown in its trading and wealth management units.

The reported number for last year was significantly below the street expectation of a 377.95 million Swiss francs loss, according to Refinitiv data.