Fair Finance Sweden reveals Nordea's backtracking on sustainability requirements
Fair Finance Sweden has revealed that Nordea is the first bank in Sweden to lower the sustainability requirements in its lending policy.
The bank has now opened the door to permitting new loans to companies involved in oil sands, shale oil and extraction in the northern Arctic. This is shown by a review carried out by Fair Finance Sweden and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation.
Since Trump became president, several US banks have backed down on their climate commitments. The review by Fair Finance Sweden shows that Nordea has also lowered its sustainability requirements. This is done by removing restrictions on some of the worst forms of fossil fuel extraction in its new lending policy. Among other things, the bank is opening up new loans to companies that extract oil sands, shale oil and explore for oil further north in the Arctic.
"This is the first time that a Swedish bank has lowered its sustainability requirements since we began the audits ten years ago. It is very worrying and completely the wrong step to take in the middle of a burning climate crisis," says Jakob König, who heads the Fair Finance Guide in Sweden.
Earlier this year, Fair Finance Sweden revealed that Nordea has lent SEK 15 billion to fossil fuel companies over the past two years.
New billion-kronor loan to shale gas companies violated policy
Already three months before Nordea changed its policy, the bank gave a new loan to the Norwegian oil company Equinor for a total of SEK 2.4 billion. This was despite the fact that the loan violated the bank's fossil fuel policy at the time, as the company's extraction of shale oil and gas accounts for far more than five percent of the company's production, which was the bank's limit at the time. One of the shale gas projects that Equinor is participating in is Vaca Muerta in Argentina, which is estimated to emit 5.2 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide, which is 117 times higher than Sweden's territorial emissions.
"I think many of Nordea's customers are really disappointed when the bank does not keep its promises. People want to be customers of a bank that takes responsibility for the climate. Not one that uses their money to finance climate worst offenders," says Jakob König.
Supporting oil exploration further north in the Arctic
The oil company Equinor is also active in the Arctic, where one of the projects that the company is expected to resume is Wisting, which will be the world's northernmost oil field. The oil field is located near the Bear Island Nature Reserve in an area known as "Norway's Little Rainforest" due to its high biodiversity. Extraction there is very risky and an accident could have catastrophic consequences.
"At the same time as the earth is getting warmer and the ice is melting, Nordea wants to support the oil companies' search for oil further north in the Arctic. It's very cynical," says König.
Nordea's arguments about energy security do not hold
Nordea has defended the policy change by saying that new sources of oil and gas are needed for Europe's energy security.
"Nordea's arguments do not hold water. On the one hand, the International Energy Council has established that no new deposits are needed to meet energy needs, and on the other hand, Europe would become both stronger and more secure by switching to renewable energy instead of sinking deeper and deeper into our dependence on fossil fuels," says Karin Lexén, Secretary General of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation.
Read the comparison of the bank's old and new fossil fuel policy
