Global Climate Action: Where Do Indian Banks Stand? https://www.indiaspend.com/explainers/global-climate-action-where-do-indian-banks-stand-779673 By Flavia Lopes, Gokulananda Nandan|8 Oct, 2021
Indian banks need to move away from financing fossil fuels projects and prioritise lending to renewable energy and other environmentally sustainable projects
Indian banks and financial institutions, including the State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI, Axis Bank, the Trust Group and HDFC, are among the largest global financial institutions funding fossil fuel projects. Banks play an important role in financing sustainable sectors such as renewable energy and in stopping financing of fossil fuels. But in India, banks have yet to implement policies to reduce their own emissions, or ask it of the companies that they finance
The United Nations Environment Programme issued Principles for Responsible Banking in 2019 to guide banks to consider the environmental and social impacts of the projects they lend to. These are also meant to help banks align their visions with the Sustainable Development Goals of 2015 and the Paris Climate Agreement.
Creating the future of banking: https://www.unepfi.org/banking/bankingprinciples/more-about-the-principles/
https://www.unepfi.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/PrinciplesOverview_Infographic.pdf