A study by Urgewald, a Germany-based environmental organization, examined coal financing from 744 commercial banks worldwide between 2022 and 2025. The research found that UK-based financial institutions were Europe’s leading source of funding for coal industry companies, providing $8.3 billion during this period. This substantially exceeded coal financing from German banks at $4.9 billion and French banks at $3.4 billion.
The UK banking sector’s coal financing was concentrated among two major institutions. Barclays increased its coal financing by 34 percent, rising from approximately $1.2 billion in 2022 to $1.6 billion in 2025. HSBC more than doubled its coal financing, growing from $200 million to $414 million over the same timeframe. Both banks maintained high-profile climate and net zero commitments despite these increases. The overall coal financing from UK banks grew by 17 percent during the period studied.
Both institutions responded to the report’s findings. HSBC stated it had committed to phasing out financing for thermal coal operations by 2030 in EU and OECD markets and by 2040 elsewhere, and noted that financed emissions from thermal coal mining fell significantly between 2020 and 2024. Barclays stated that many companies in the report were diversified energy or mining firms and that it does not finance companies deriving more than 30 percent of revenues from thermal coal operations.
Globally, bank financing for coal remained relatively stable at approximately $117 billion annually between 2022 and 2025, despite commitments made at the 2021 Glasgow climate summit. However, significant regional variations emerged. Chinese banks accounted for 62 percent of global coal financing at $289 billion, representing an 8 percent increase. US banks provided $67 billion with a 23 percent increase, while Indonesian banks raised coal financing by 64 percent. Conversely, EU, Taiwanese, Malaysian, and Thai banks substantially reduced their coal financing.
Urgewald director Heffa Schücking indicated that declining coal finance in some regions demonstrated the effectiveness of clear coal policies, but cautioned that progress in developed markets was being offset by increased funding from other regions.
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