Major global banks aim to push ocean freight to a green future, with a plan to use decarbonization metrics in making lending decisions.
The banks have agreed to follow a framework called the Poseidon Principles, which will disclose the climatic impact of lending to shipping companies.
The banks include Citi, Societe Generale, DNB, ABN Amro, Amsterdam Trade Bank, Credit Agricole CIB, Danish Ship Finance, Danske Bank, DVB, ING and Nordea. The 11 banks have a total shipping loan portfolio of $100 billion, representing around 20 percent of the global ship finance portfolio.
The framework was developed by the banks along with climate organizations including the Global Maritime Forum, Rocky Mountain Institute and UCL Energy Institute.
“As banks, we recognize that our role in the shipping industry enables us to promote responsible environmental stewardship,” said Michael Parker, who heads the shipping and logistics practice at Citi. “The Poseidon Principles will not only serve our institutions to improve decision making at a strategic level but will also shape a better future for the shipping industry and our society,”
“The Poseidon Principles offer significant benefits to the global shipping industry and society and they allow us as banks to align and de-risk our portfolios in line with shipping’s green transition,” said Paul Taylor, the head of Societe Generale’s corporate and investment banking group.
“We encourage all our colleagues to join us in leading industry-wide change by becoming Signatories of the Poseidon Principles,” said Kristin Holth, the global head of ocean industries at DNB.
The Poseidon Principles aim to promote the International Maritime Organization’s greenhouse gas strategy which it adopted in April 2018. The IMO wants shipping companies to cut their carbon dioxide output in half by 2050.
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