Coal bank financing holds near $117 billion despite pledges
Bank coal funding remained stable post-2021 Glasgow summit, with European and Asian cuts balanced by growth in other regions.
The global coal financing landscape has remained relatively stable at around $117 billion annually since the 2021 COP26 climate summit, according to a new report by German non-profit Urgewald. Despite European and some Asian banks reducing their coal financing commitments, Chinese, US, and several Asian banks have continued to provide significant financing for the thermal coal value chain.
Chinese banks led the charge, accounting for 62% of financing, or $289 billion, followed by US banks at 14% and Japanese lenders at 6%. The report highlights the concentration of coal financing in regions with weaker coal policies and the growing divergence between banks with tighter restrictions and those expanding their financing.
EU-headquartered banks cut their annual coal financing by 46% to $2.6 billion in 2025 from $4.8 billion in 2022, while UK banks increased their financing by 17%. In Asia, Malaysian banks reduced coal financing by 88%, Thai banks by 74%, and Taiwanese banks by 53%. Indian lenders decreased their financing by 19%, despite the country adding 88 GW of solar and wind capacity.
Japan's financing fluctuated, dropping to $5.9 billion in 2024 from $8.7 billion in 2022 before rebounding to $6.8 billion in 2025. China remains the largest source of bank financing for coal, with annual support rising to $75 billion in 2025 from $69 billion in 2022, with most of the financing directed towards domestic companies.
The report urges investors and regulators to focus on banks with increasing coal exposure rather than viewing the global total in isolation.
Written by urgent.news from Mining.com's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.