Dutch bank ING to ditch climate laggards as clients
Dutch bank ING will dump large clients it believes are not making sufficient progress on reducing their climate impact, in the latest sign of divergence between European and US banks over the risks of global warming. Chief executive Steven van Rijswijk said ING had put its clients on notice that it would either restrict or stop providing finance to companies that fail to address their carbon footprint on a case-by-case basis. Van Rijswijk said ING had assessed 2,000 of its largest clients based on their publicly available climate transition plans and other data. Companies had until 2026 to make sufficient progress, he said.