{"id":38035,"date":"2025-09-19T14:50:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T12:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reclaimfinance.org\/site\/?p=38035"},"modified":"2026-01-20T11:31:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T10:31:38","slug":"ings-2025-climate-update-still-fueling-fossil-expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reclaimfinance.org\/site\/en\/2025\/09\/19\/ings-2025-climate-update-still-fueling-fossil-expansion\/","title":{"rendered":"ING\u2019s 2025 Climate \u201cUpdate\u201d: still fueling fossil expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"

ING has released its Climate Update 2025 (1). Far from being the expected breakthrough it could have been due to ING\u2019s latest efforts to position itself as a climate leader amongst global banks, the update simply repeats existing commitments and glosses over the bank\u2019s ongoing support for fossil fuel expansion. The bank uses its validation by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to reiterate its pole position as a credible climate actor. But failing to exclude companies expanding their fossil fuel business from its client portfolio in fact stands in direct contradiction with the latest update of the SBTi standards – an update ING conveniently left out of its own climate update.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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ING\u2019s continued support for fossil fuel developers<\/h2><\/span>
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ING continues to provide loans and financial support to large oil and gas companies that operate in different parts of the industry, which represent over 70% of fossil expansion plans globally (2). Despite large-scale criticism from NGOs and civil society organizations at ING\u2019s\u00a0 Annual General Meeting (AGM) this year, including from frontline communities affected by the devastating consequences of the LNG build\u2013out that ING is financing, the bank still allows corporate financing for the companies developing LNG infrastructure.<\/p>\n

At this stage, ING is only excluding financing infrastructure projects that specifically support new oil & gas field development (i.e. transport, storage, export terminals) from 2026 onwards. But it is far from being enough, in fact, ING is a central financier of Venture Global, the world\u2019s largest developer of LNG export terminals. Over the past three years, ING has been the largest lender, and in 2024 it still placed third.<\/p>\n

Its client engagement strategy explicitly avoids red lines. Even when a client has no transition plan to shift business activities away from fossil fuels towards activities aligned with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5\u00b0C, or an insufficient one, ING pledges continued financial support rather than withdrawal. Such practices stand in stark contrast to the scientific consensus. Banks must cease all financing for companies expanding fossil fuel production and infrastructure. It must not allow fossil developers to play for more time that we do not have. Consequently it\u2019s hard to see the value of an update on its climate activities when ING in fact hasn\u2019t changed any of its policies.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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SBTi validation: misleading disclosure, missed opportunity<\/h2><\/span>
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In its update, ING highlights that its 2030 targets were validated under the SBTi Financial Institutions\u2019 Near-Term Criteria effective for five years. However, ING fails to mention the most recent development: in July 2025, SBTi released its Net-Zero Standard for Financial Institutions<\/a><\/span>, which explicitly rules out financing for companies developing new coal, oil, or gas projects \u2014 including LNG infrastructure. The SBTi update requires this exclusion from 2030 onward \u2014 a straightforward step ING could have embraced immediately if its ambition is to become the world\u2019s leading bank on climate. Yet it chose not to.<\/p>\n

By omitting this critical point, ING uses the validation received for its targets from the SBTi prior to the latter\u2019s update, while continuing to finance fossil expansion \u2014 an oversight that undermines both its credibility and climate ambition.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Leadership required, but not delivered<\/h2><\/span>
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Amid widespread backtracking on climate commitments across the financial sector, ING could have seized the moment to lead. Instead, it missed an opportunity to align its practices with climate science and its own stated ambition to be a climate leader.<\/p>\n

CEO Steven van Rijswijk stated: \u201cThere are those that say we\u2019re not doing enough on climate and those that say we\u2019re doing too much. However, it\u2019s not about making bold statements.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

He is right that this is not about bold statements \u2014 it is about bold action. Yet those actions are glaringly absent from ING\u2019s Climate Update. And he is wrong in framing the issue as a question of doing \u2018too much\u2019 or \u2018not enough\u2019. The real question is whether ING is doing the right thing. By now, the answer should be unequivocal: banks that claim climate leadership must end financial support for companies driving fossil fuel expansion, including new oil and gas fields and the infrastructure that enables them.<\/p>\n<\/div>

ING\u2019s 2025 Climate Update was an opportunity to demonstrate real leadership in a year when financial institutions are under pressure to halt their support for fossil fuel expansion. Instead, ING chose to recycle old commitments, obscure critical developments in the SBTi framework, and continue financing some of the biggest drivers of the climate crisis.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

By doing so, ING undermines both its credibility and its stated ambition to align with the 1.5\u00b0C goal. If ING truly intends to be a climate leader, it must go beyond words and incremental policies. That means ending all financial support \u2014 project and corporate \u2014 for companies expanding oil, gas, and LNG, and drawing clear red lines in its client engagement. <\/b><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Notes:<\/h3><\/span>
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  1. ING Climate Update 2025<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Banking on Climate Chaos 2024<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

    Read also<\/h2><\/div>
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