Fossil fuel financing surged to $906 billion in 2025 as big banks retreat from climate promises

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🗞️ Driving the news: Fossil fuel financing by the world’s 65 largest banks surged to $906 billion in 2025, up $65 billion from 2024, despite the growing climate crisis and Paris Agreement commitments
• JPMorgan topped the list with $58.2 billion in fossil fuel investments, followed by Bank of America, MUFG, Mizuho, and Citigroup
• Midstream infrastructure financing, particularly for LNG projects, jumped 84% to $116 billion, locking in decades of future emissions

🔭 The context: This increase comes as major banks exit the Net-Zero Banking Alliance and roll back climate commitments, spurred partly by the Trump administration’s deregulation policies
• The top “Dirty Dozen” banks accounted for nearly 39% of all fossil fuel financing, concentrating risk in a few firms and projects
• Expansion financing for coal and oil also rose sharply, with U.S. banks backing oil and gas growth and Chinese banks fueling coal infrastructure

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: The surge in fossil fuel financing directly contradicts global carbon neutrality targets and limits progress toward keeping warming below 1.5°C
• Multi-decade investments in LNG, coal, and oil lock in future greenhouse gas emissions, worsening climate change, contributing to energy instability, and undermining the transition to renewable energy

⏭️ What’s next: Environmental groups and analysts are calling for binding regulations on bank fossil fuel financing
• Meanwhile, geopolitical events such as wars in Ukraine and the Middle East continue to create market volatility and expose the fragility of fossil fuel dependence, increasing the urgency for regulatory action and green investment

💬 One quote: “In terms of issues of affordability and cost of living, I think it’s pretty clear that the banks are actively involved in sustaining and future-proofing a very fragile, unreliable and unaffordable energy system based on fossil fuels.” – Niko Lusiani, Rainforest Action Network

📈 One stat: Coal expansion financing rose 77% for mining and 40% for coal power in 2025 compared to 2024, illustrating rapid growth in high-carbon investments

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