HSBC aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in thirty years

On Friday, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBA.L) announced that it would aim to achieve net-zero carbon emissions on its entire customer base in the next thirty years. The company said that it would provide cash financing worth $750 billion to $1 trillion in order to help its clients make the transformation possible.

“COVID has been a wake-up call to us all, including me personally. We have seen how fragile the global economy is to a major event, in this case, a health event, and it brings home the reality of what a major climate event could do,” HSBC’s Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn said in an interview with Reuters.

“What we have given the market is an ambition that our total financing by 2050 will be net-zero, that is a far bigger prize or goal than picking a sub-segment of our portfolio and saying ‘I am not going to bank you’ because that’s not what the world needs,” he added.

Europe’s largest bank stated that it plans to invest $100 Million in clean technology and another $100 Million for climate innovation ventures and renewable energy sources.