Deutsche Bank to exit coal mining business by 2025

Deutsche Bank HQ in Frankfurt

Deutsche Bank said on Monday it will end its global business activities in coal mining by 2025 at the latest.

The German bank also said that, effective immediately, it will not finance new projects in the Arctic or oil sand projects.

“Deutsche Bank has adopted a new Fossil Fuels Policy which provides its business divisions with a strict framework for their business activities involving coal, oil and gas,” said the bank.

“This means that Deutsche Bank will end its global business activities in coal mining by 2025 at the latest in order to help drive the transformation to a sustainable economy.

“This policy covers financing as well as capital market transactions.”

Previously, the bank had set itself a three-year objective of reducing its loan exposures to coal-fired power plants by 20% — and it achieved this goal at the end of 2019.

“Our new Fossil Fuels Policy sets us a strict framework for our business activities in the oil, gas and coal sector,” said Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing.

“In its current form, the policy sets us ambitious targets and enables us to help our long-standing clients with their own transformation.

“It will allow us to play our part in protecting the climate and helping the EU to achieve its goal of being climate neutral by 2050.”

Deutsche Bank also said it will no longer finance the following projects in the oil and gas sector:

  • Oil and gas projects that use hydraulic fracturing in countries with scarce water supplies
  • New oil and gas projects in the Arctic region
  • New oil sand projects (involving exploration, production, transport or processing)

“Furthermore, the bank will perform a systematic review of all its global business activities in the oil and gas sector by the end of 2020 with the aim of subsequently setting limits for its overall business activities in the coming years,” said Deutsche Bank.