Methodology:

To create our green bank ratings, we scored each bank on three key areas:

• Position on fossil fuel financing (70% of overall score). We think the most important thing to consider when assessing the sustainability credentials of a bank is where your money could end up. It’s a little known fact that many of the world’s best known banks provide financing to significant contributors to the climate crisis like the fossil fuel industry. We assessed each bank’s position on financing fossil fuels and how well they report on financed emissions more broadly.

• Operational emissions (15% of overall score). Greenhouse gas emissions are the best overall indicator of a company’s environmental impact and operational emissions are related to the day-to-day operations of the business. Think electricity used in the branches or the cars driven by the executives. For the sustainability experts among you, we assessed each bank based on absolute location-based Scope 1 & 2 emissions using revenue as a denominator to help us compare big and small banks fairly.

• Net zero targets (15% of overall score). We also assessed the future ambition of each bank when it comes to sustainability by looking at their net zero targets. The UN defines “net zero” to mean “cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible, with any remaining emissions re-absorbed from the atmosphere, by oceans and forests”. The earlier the bank is aiming to achieve net zero emissions the better it scored.