Dutch banking group ING Groep is to end all financing of new oil and gas projects, Reuters has reported

The firm is one of the first major global banks to make such a commitment, as corporations are taken to task to help bring down emissions.  

Michiel de Haan, global head of the energy sector at ING, told Reuters that the bank would, however, continue its existing involvement in oil and gas projects to meet the targets of “affordable energy and reliable supply of energy”. 

He continued that in terms of greenfield projects however, the bank would be boosting its support for renewable developments and phasing out new oil and gas investments. According to de Haan, ING will be targeting a 50% increase in renewable energy lending by 2025, and a reduction of oil and gas funding by 12% by that same year. 

In a statement, ING said that the move is in direct response to warnings from the International Energy Agency (IEA) that no new oil and gas projects can be approved if we are to keep to the 1.5 °C global warming limit.  

There has been an increased spotlight on oil and gas majors and their investors in light of this warning, though many offshore industry members have highlighted the fact that oil and gas remain part of the global energy mix in the IEA’s projection and that some continued production will be necessary to meet the world’s power needs.  

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“These steps also support the European Union’s ‘Fit for 55’ and ‘REPowerEU’ plans,” the company’s statement reads. “Also there, key elements are oil and gas supplies from existing fields, investments in clean energy and infrastructure for the electrified economy, and energy efficiency. 

Russia’s ongoing incursion into Ukraine has also destabilised projected outcomes for the energy sector, with Western nations’ turn away from Russia-supplied oil and gas causing some to seek increases in domestic oil and gas production, while others are ramping up the shift to renewable deployment to fill the market gap.