, says it has an “expanding blacklist” of companies with which it refuses to do business because, he claimed, they are not “serious” about reducing their carbon emissions. Mr Hunt told a conference in Dublin on Wednesday that it will “turn away” business from such companies.
Mr Hunt, who was interviewed onstage on the topic of sustainability by conference host and journalist Dearbhail McDonald said regulations requiring it to consider the carbon footprint of its customers would create a “welcome burden” forThe bank’s chief executive said that when he goes to meet existing or potential institutional shareholders, the issue of carbon targets is now an important question, whereas “three years ago it was a tick-the-box question”.
The “excluded activities” list does not name any specific companies, but the bank says it applies to companies that have a banking exposure greater than €300,000. The list “prohibits providing new money for term lending to businesses, or any of their subsidiaries, involved in” a range of activities.