Canada is betting that efforts to incrementally reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its oil sands deposits will win back investors, banks and insurers who in recent years have shunned the carbon-heavy resource for environmental reasons.
Here is a look at some of the institutions with commitments and policies targeting oil sands.
- ING Group in June 2017 updated its policy barring transactions directly linked to mining, exploration and transportation and processing of oil sands to include Canada’s government-owned Trans Mountain expansion, TC Energy’s Keystone XL and Enbridge’s Line 3.
- BNP Paribas in October 2017 said it would not finance Arctic, tar sands, shale oil or shale gas projects.
- Societe Generale SA in December 2017 said it would no longer finance the production of oil from tar sands.
- Insurer Axa SA in December 2017 said it would phase out coverage of oil sands businesses.
- HSBC in April 2018 said it would no longer provide project finance for new oil sands projects, including pipelines.
- Royal Bank of Scotland in May 2018 said it would not finance oil sands projects.
- Sweden’s central bank in November 2019 sold bonds issued by the Canadian province of Alberta.
- UBS in March said it would not finance new oil sands projects.
- Norges Bank in May said in would exclude several Canadian oil sands producers from the country’s $1 trillion wealth fund.
- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group in May put oil sands extraction on its “restricted transaction” list.
- Deutsche Bank in July said it would no longer finance new oil sands projects, including exploration, production, transport or processing.
- Insurer Zurich in July said it would not renew coverage for the Canadian government’s Trans Mountain oil pipeline.
- Dutch asset manager Robeco in September said it would exclude Suncor , Canadian Natural Resources and others from sustainability funds. 29dk2902l