DBS sets decarbonisation targets for key sectors

View of the DBS Bank building in Singapore. (File photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)
SINGAPORE: DBS Group has set decarbonisation targets for nine industry sectors, including power, oil and gas, aviation and shipping, and reinforced its commitment to net-zero financed emissions by 2050.
DBS said the nine sectors represent 31 per cent of the bank's outstanding loans, but constitute the most carbon-intensive institutional banking segments it has financed.
"We do believe that this is one of the most expansive set of commitments that exist in the financial sector," Piyush Gupta, the CEO of Southeast Asia's largest bank, told a news conference on Tuesday (Sep 13).
Last October, DBS agreed to align its lending and investment portfolios with net zero emissions by 2050 but had not provided a breakdown of the sectors.
DBS has also set an absolute emissions reduction target for the oil and gas sector.
By 2030, it aims to reduce absolute emissions in the sector which are attributable to the bank by 28 per cent.
"With the announcement, the bank aims to encourage and enable its institutional banking customers to pivot their business strategies and accelerate their transition journeys.
"This could be achieved in various ways including by providing them with sustainable and transition finance solutions," said DBS.
Asian banks, including DBS, Nomura Holdings and Macquarie Group, are part of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), the body charged with marshalling the financial world's contribution to the fight against climate change.
Other key industry sectors for DBS with decarbonisation goals were automotive, real estate and steel, plus targets on date coverage for food and agribusinesses and chemicals