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New report exposes Nordic financial institutions’ metallurgical coal & steel holdings

Photo: Ant Rozetsky / Unsplash

A new brief, Nordic Finance Unmasked, examines the investments of the 20 largest Nordic pension funds and 10 largest Nordic banks in the top 50 expanding metallurgical coal companies and the 100 largest steel-producing companies as of July 2023.

Despite policies adopted by Nordic financial institutions to phase out thermal coal in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, similar actions are missing for metallurgical coal, used in steelmaking, to achieve climate goals. The policy analysis of this brief reveals that most Nordic investors lack a metallurgical coal policy. Lue lisää “New report exposes Nordic financial institutions’ metallurgical coal & steel holdings” →

NGO-led shareholder resolution demands Nordea to stop financing fossil fuel expansion

Greenpeace Nordic, Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (Naturskyddsföreningen) and Action Aid Denmark (Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke) have filed a shareholder resolution at Nordea’s Annual General Meeting. The resolution is also supported by Fair Finance Guide and Hiilivapaa Suomi. 

Lue lisää “NGO-led shareholder resolution demands Nordea to stop financing fossil fuel expansion” →

Investor roundtable on steel decarbonisation

18.1.2024 08:30–12:00

Steel is an emission intensive commodity widely used in society and responsible for 7-9% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Decarbonisation of the steel industry is crucial to the overall green transition. As global steel demand is projected to increase by 40% by 2050, the need for a rapid decarbonisation of the industry is pressing.

The decarbonisation of the steel industry poses both risks and opportunities for investors. There is overhanging regulatory risk and at the same time a strong need for financing of emerging technologies. Lue lisää “Investor roundtable on steel decarbonisation” →

67 organisations call on banks to cease financing metallurgical coal

A global group of 67 organisations led by BankTrack and Reclaim Finance is calling on 50 of the world’s largest banks to end all financial support for new metallurgical coal production and expansion. Banks risk stranded assets and climate catastrophe in steel lending without metallurgical coal exclusions.

Coal-Free Finland / Friends of the Earth Finland has signed the letter.

→ Read the press release and the letter

It’s time companies use their purchasing power to decarbonise the polluting steel industry

/ Eve Nieminen
Photo by Ant Rozetsky / Unsplash

This article originally published on SteelWatch Insights

Friends of the Earth Finland recently analysed whether companies that buy steel are using their power to encourage decarbonisation of this high-emissions product. Their new Scoreboard shows the companies are doing very little.

Companies are neglecting their supply chain emissions

For most companies, decarbonising the supply chain (upstream Scope 3) has become the priority area of action, dwarfing their own direct emissions. Steel is an input supplied to a myriad of companies, and is a carbon-intensive product (almost 2 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel). So by now we might expect steel buyers to be driving decarbonisation in the steel supply chain. Lue lisää “It’s time companies use their purchasing power to decarbonise the polluting steel industry” →

New industry-led “standard” for low-emissions steel slammed as EU-US trade deal looms

Photo by Karan Bhatia / Unsplash

Press release

Civil society organizations criticize GSCC certification for ignoring social and environmental impacts of steelmaking and lacking meaningful measures to reduce emissions

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Today civil society organizations published an open letter calling on policymakers, steelmakers, and buyers to disregard a recent “standard” released by the Global Steel Climate Council. The organizations argue that this standard, which was created to influence trade agreements, including a pending deal between the United States and European Union, favors the existing practices of a small fraction of steelmakers in wealthy nations rather than creates mechanisms to meaningfully decarbonize global steelmaking, and should be ignored in any government standards or trade agreements. Lue lisää “New industry-led “standard” for low-emissions steel slammed as EU-US trade deal looms” →

Stop funding fossil fuels, Nordea demonstration

29.10.2021 08:30–09:30
Mielenosoittajia Nordean pääkonttorin edessä
Mielenosoittajia Nordean pääkonttorin edessä kansainvälisenä Defund Climate Chaos -toimintapäivänä 29.10.21, Kuva Satu Söderholm

Since the adoption of the Paris climate agreement, Nordea has poured 12.4 billion euros into fossil fuel companies – such as the fossil company Fortum, one of Europe’s biggest emitters.

Nordea has committed to net-zero in 2050. However, distant promises are not enough and we are demanding meaningful action now. Nordea’s new climate policy is not aligned with the Paris Agreement.

We demand that Nordea:

  • Phases out existing financing for coal
  • Ends financing for all projects that expand fossil fuels
  • Commits to drop clients that don’t align with 1.5C

Join Stop funding fossil fuels, Nordea! demonstration at the company’s headquarters (Satamaradankatu 5, 00580 Helsinki) on the 29th October at 8.30-9.30 am. The demonstration is part of the international #DefundClimateChaos action day.
Before the demonstration, there will be an online briefing on Nordea’s role in the climate crisis on 26 October at 5-6 pm. You can participate even if you can’t make it to the demonstration but are interested in learning more.

The conveners of the demonstration are Hiilivapaa Suomi, Fridays For Future Finland, 350 Suomi, Friends of the Earth Finland and XR Finland.

Nordea’s new climate policy allows oil and gas expansion

After a number of reports, including Banking on Thin Ice and ShareAction’s Countdown to COP showed significant problems with Nordea’s guidelines for financing the fossil fuel sector, Nordea has developed a new policy. Nordea proudly announced that it is “increasing pressure on [the] fossil fuel sector” and the new policy indeed places stronger limitations on financing for the sector by the Nordic region’s largest bank. The policy still has serious gaps, however, which means that it will have limited effect on Nordea’s financing for some key heavy polluters like the Finnish coal company Fortum and companies exploring for more oil and gas in the Arctic. Despite IEA’s new Net Zero by 2050 report that there can be no more investments in new fossil fuels, the policy allows Nordea to continue to finance companies developing new oil and gas projects.

Lue lisää “Nordea’s new climate policy allows oil and gas expansion” →

Joint Press Release: Fortum/Uniper’s partner Pieridae attempts to silence activists

/ Ansku Holstila
Goldboron työmaa
Goldboron työmaa. Kuva Ken Summers.

Canadian company threatens to take legal action against Campaigners Reaction on letter to Trudeau and other politicians on LNG subsidies Energy utilities Fortum and Uniper involved in Pieridae‘s LNG business Lue lisää “Joint Press Release: Fortum/Uniper’s partner Pieridae attempts to silence activists” →

Fortum/Uniper leave Finnish government red-faced due to Paris-incompatible strategy

Hiilivapaan aktiiveja Fortumin plogging tapahtumassa "Unohtuiko omat roskat" kyltin kanssa.
Hiilivapaan aktiiveja Fortumin plogging-tapahtumassa.

Finnish majority state-owned energy company Fortum/Uniper has confirmed in its new strategy released today that it does not intend to align its business with the goals of the UN Paris climate agreement, opting instead to track inadequate national government coal phase-out plans, in defiance of the requirements of its majority shareholder.

Lue lisää “Fortum/Uniper leave Finnish government red-faced due to Paris-incompatible strategy” →