Big banks' big footprint: UK financial institutions responsible for double UK's annual carbon emissions, report warns

clock • 4 min read

Green campaigners warn City of London would be ninth biggest emitter of CO2 in world if it was a country in fresh analysis of financial sector's environmental impact

UK banks and investors are responsible for almost double the UK's net annual carbon emissions, a damning new report by WWF and Greenpeace has found. The analysis argues that based on the carbon footprint...

To continue reading this article...

Join BusinessGreen

In just a few clicks you can start your free BusinessGreen Lite membership for 12 months, providing you access to:

  • Three complimentary articles per month covering the latest real-time news, analysis, and opinion from Europe’s leading source of information on the Green economy and business
  • Receive important and breaking news stories via our daily news alert
  • Our weekly newsletter with the best of the week’s green business news and analysis

Join now

 

Already a BusinessGreen member?

Login

More on Investment

Ofwat announces funding for domestic leak-busting projects

Ofwat announces funding for domestic leak-busting projects

Water Efficiency Lab 2 grant programme aims to help prevent the 1.5 billion litres a day lost to leaks in homes and businesses

Stuart Stone
clock 03 August 2026 • 2 min read
Study: Clean energy remains a key untapped regional investment opportunity

Study: Clean energy remains a key untapped regional investment opportunity

Mayoral Strategic Authorities collectively identify almost £80bn of investment opportunities across infrastructure, housing, and clean energy

Stuart Stone
clock 31 July 2026 • 4 min read
Nesta pulls £120m of investments from Northern Trust over climate backtracking concerns

Nesta pulls £120m of investments from Northern Trust over climate backtracking concerns

UK research and innovation charity foundation transfers £120m of passive global equity portfolio to rival asset manager Amundi

Michael Holder
clock 29 July 2026 • 3 min read