Big banks are providing more than twice as much finance for fossil fuels as for sustainable sources, according to new analysis published today by Reclaim Finance, Urgewald and partners (1), comparing for the first time finance for fossil fuels with finance for sustainable power. The analysis shows that the big German banks are not on track when it comes to financing the energy transition. Reclaim Finance and Urgewald are urging the banks to set targets for reducing their financing for fossil fuels, with an immediate end to all support for fossil fuel expansion, while significantly increasing finance for sustainable alternatives, particularly in the power sector.
Table: Results for German banks
“Trends” represent the evolution of bank’s average annual financing over the period
The new report Banking on Business as Usual, shows that between 2021 and 2024 just US$1,368 billion was allocated to sustainable power such as solar, wind, and related infrastructure (2), while US$3,285 billion was allocated to fossil fuels. This generates a financing ratio of 0.42:1, which means for each dollar allocated to fossil fuels, just 42 cents went to sustainable alternatives.
While German banks have an above average ratio of 0.70:1, they all increased their support to fossil fuels over the period. Deutsche Bank (37th) is underperforming with a ratio of 0.48:1, and this proportion has declined since 2022. Spanish banks in contrast have an average ratio of 1.03:1.
Philipp Noack, Finance Campaigner at Urgewald, says: “While the world is burning, major German banks continue to pour gasoline on the fire. Deutsche Bank, in particular, is failing to transform its business model. Instead of promoting sustainable energies, it has actually cut back on financing them while simultaneously increasing its support for risky fossil fuels. This short-sighted strategy exacerbates the climate crisis and jeopardizes the financial sector’s stability.”
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), annual investments in fossil fuels must fall by 60% by 2030, while investments in alternatives must more than double, reaching a ratio of 6:1 (for every $1 allocated to fossil fuels, $6 must be allocated to alternatives) (4).
Rémi Hermant, campaigner at Reclaim Finance says: “The energy transition is a major opportunity for banks, but they are still focusing in the wrong direction. The world’s biggest banks are not doing anywhere near enough to support the shift from fossil fuels to sustainable alternatives. While European banks are slightly ahead, they cannot claim to be backing the energy transition while still financing the business as usual. Banks must walk the talk: step away from fossil fuels and increase their finance to sustainable alternatives.”
Just four banks, none of them German, have published their own figures for their energy transition ratio (5), including Citi bank which revealed details last month.
Being transparent does not necessarily mean banks have a good financing ratio. JPMC was the first US bank to publish its ratio, but as the biggest financier of fossil fuels, it comes in at 54th in the ranking, providing on average five times more finance for fossil fuels compared to finance for sustainable alternatives.
Earlier this year, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said “the transition is not yet fast enough or fair enough” (5). Our analysis shows that indeed, 93% of financing allocated to sustainable alternatives is concentrated in companies and projects in OECD countries and China, despite the urgent need for financing in the rest of the world.
Reclaim Finance and partners are calling on banks to reduce financing for fossil fuels, immediately end all support for fossil fuel expansion, and to significantly increase financing for sustainable alternatives, particularly in the power sector, by introducing sectoral targets, enabling a ratio of at least 6:1 to be achieved by 2030.
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Notes
(1) Banking on Business as Usual, Reclaim Finance with the support of partners including BankTrack, Beyond Fossil Fuels, Rainforest Action Network, ShareAction, Stand.Earth, urgewald, and WWF, September 2025. Embargo copies available
(2) Reclaim Finance defines sustainable alternatives as power generation from wind, solar, marine, geothermal power, and some hydropower. It also includes enabling infrastructures such as power grids and batteries. See Reclaim Finance, The limits of (not so) clean energy
(3) See detail for German banks in the table below.
(4) According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), tripling global renewables capacity to 11000 gigawatts by 2030 is the most powerful lever for reducing fossil fuel demand and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Such a transformation is essential to enable the massive electrification of our economies and further reduce fossil fuel use. Under the most ambitious scenarios, electricity’s share of final energy consumption must rise from 20% today to over 27% by 2030, and more than 60% by 2050." See IEA, Net Zero Roadmap (update), November 2023
(5) BNP Paribas, Citi, Crédit Agricole, and JPMorgan Chase
(6) Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General (July 22, 2025)
