ING has published its annual Climate Report. This report explains how their financing impacts climate change, as well as how climate change impacts their business. It includes their progress on steering the nine most carbon-intensive sectors in ING’s loan portfolio towards global climate goals – ING’s Terra approach – how they engage with clients to help them in their transitions, and their work to assess climate risks and take action to mitigate them.

“Climate change is a fact and its effects are being felt all around us,” said ING CEO Steven van Rijswijk. “The latest climate science sends a clear warning that we only have a small window of opportunity to limit global warming to 1.5°C. I strongly believe that every step counts, every action is meaningful, and every tenth of a degree matters. We all – governments, NGOs, businesses and individuals – have a part to play, and we can all make the difference for present and future generations if we work together towards the same goals.”

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Statement from ING: “Putting sustainability at the heart of what we do is one of the two key pillars of our strategy. We’re proud of the progress we’re making, and how we’re using our financing to contribute to the transition of our customers but we know we still have work to do. Change doesn’t happen overnight, and going green isn’t black and white. The reality is that even though we finance a lot of sustainable activities, we still finance more that’s not. Society is transitioning to a low-carbon economy. So are our clients, and so are we.”

Key takeaways from the climate report are:

• ING continues to help set sector financing standards for decarbonisation. They’ve done so in steel and shipping and are collaborating on a new methodology for the aluminium sector.
  
• ING set 2030 and 2050 targets for not only upstream, but also the midstream and downstream parts of the oil & gas value chain. They’re also working to expand their approach into trade and commodity finance, with the aim of covering the full value chain of oil & gas under our Terra approach.
  
• ING is increasingly integrating climate into their decision-making and business processes.
  
• Besides oil & gas, they’re expanding their Terra approach into more areas including Business Banking (agriculture and transportation, in the Netherlands) and global commercial real estate.
  
• ING make specific calls on sector level to governments and regulators to more firmly guide the transition with harmonised policies and incentives that accelerate the decarbonisation of the global economy.

As insights on climate action are evolving rapidly, ING continues to improve their approach. This report provides them and their stakeholders with the opportunity to reflect on the progress they’ve been making, and to look ahead to the areas where they can strive to do more, aim to go faster, drive increased collaboration and call for greater guidance.