Potential climate case
Milieudefensie, or Friends of the Earth Netherlands, said in January 2024 that ING isn’t living up to our responsibilities when it comes to climate change and that they may initiate legal proceedings against us if we do not comply with a series of demands detailed in a letter. We responded to them in February 2024, outlining why we’re confident in our climate approach and our position on the points they raised in their letter.
On 15 January 2025, ING received a second letter from Friends of the Earth NL including a series of new demands related to our climate action strategy. We responded to that second letter on 4 February 2025. See details below.
FAQ
What do Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) want, and what’s our reaction?
In their latest letter received in January 2025 we have received a series of new demands from Friends of the Earth. See our response (4 February 2025).
We share the view that the global transition to a low carbon economy is an urgent priority and one that requires systemic change. We contribute to that through our elaborate climate approach the details of which are publicly available.
Why are we confident in our climate approach?
Sustainability is a core element of ING’s strategy and we have led the way with many important steps over the years.
We were one of the first major international banks to commit to the goals of the Paris Agreement, and we co-created a detailed and scientific way to steer financing towards the Paris Agreement’s goal of reaching net zero by 2050. We are doing just that for the most carbon-heavy parts of our portfolio.
We were one of the first major international banks for other milestones, too. We’re reducing financing to coal-fired power plants to close to zero by end 2025. In response to publications by the International Energy Agency we decided to no longer provide dedicated finance to new oil & gas fields and to speed up the reduction of our upstream oil & gas financing to zero by 2040. And in response to the call from the international community at COP28 in Dubai to triple renewable energy capacity, we also aim to triple new financing of renewable power generation to €7.5 billion annually by 2025 from 2022.
It's important to note that as society transitions to a low-carbon economy, about 80% of energy used globally today is still fossil-fuel based. So even though we finance a lot of sustainable activities, we still finance more that’s not sustainable. That is a reflection of the current global economy.
What are the next steps?
We’ve responded to Friends of the Earth with this letter. They previously said that they would begin legal proceedings if we didn’t comply with their demands in their letter. That would kick off a long process that could take years. We don’t know what legal demands they would make, nor can we speculate as to what the results of such a case would be, as there’s no precedent. Regardless, ING will continue to take steps and make progress on our climate approach.
What was new in our climate action in 2024?
The urgency of climate change is undeniable and ING wants to play a leading role in accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy. As a bank, we do this through financing: working with clients on their transitions to net zero while financing the technologies and solutions needed for a sustainable future. And because the global transition needs to include everyone, we’re also finding new ways to enable people to stay a step ahead on climate change.
On 19 September 2024 we published our Climate Progress Update 2024 to inform all of our stakeholders about our approach to climate action and how we’re progressing. Here are five key things to know on the steps we’ve taken in 2024.
About our climate action approach
