UK banks put £75bn into firms building climate-wrecking ‘carbon bombs’, study finds

Coal power plant chimneys. A campaigner accused UK banks of turning the City of London into ‘Europe’s stronghold for financing fossil fuel expansion’. Photograph: Bilanol/Shutterstock

Banks in the City of London have poured more than $100bn (£75bn) into companies developing “carbon bombs” – huge oil, gas and coal projects that would drive the climate past internationally agreed temperature limits with catastrophic global consequences – according to a study.

Nine London-based banks, including HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds are involved in financing companies responsible for at least 117 carbon bomb projects in 28 countries between 2016 – the year after the landmark Paris agreement was signed – and 2023, according to the study.