UK banks are Europe’s biggest coal financiers, report finds

UK-based banks have emerged as the largest financial backers of the global coal industry, providing $8.3 billion (£6.2 billion) in coal financing over the past four years, according to a recent report. This funding surge comes despite global commitments made during Cop26 in Glasgow in 2021 to phase down coal use.

The study highlights that UK banks outpaced their European counterparts, with German banks providing $4.9 billion and French banks contributing $3.4 billion in the same timeframe. The report indicates that the increase in coal financing from UK banks was primarily driven by Barclays and HSBC, both of which have raised their coal financing amounts between 2022 and 2025.

• Barclays: Increased coal financing by 34%, from approximately $1.2 billion in 2022 to $1.6 billion in 2025.
• HSBC: More than doubled its coal financing from $200 million to $414 million.

The research was conducted by Urgewald, a Germany-based environmental and human rights organization, which tracked loans and underwriting from 744 commercial banks globally to companies involved in the coal value chain, including mining, power generation, logistics, exploration, and trading.