This edition of Banking on Thin Ice examines the role of the nine largest Nordic banks in financing fossil fuel companies, placing particular emphasis on the Arctic. The report finds that more than half of the total financing provided to expanding oil and gas producers in 2024 and 2025 is supporting plans for an oil and gas boom in the Arctic Barents Sea. This financing is flowing from just four banks: DNB, Nordea, SEB, and Jyske Bank. In 2024 and 2025, they provided Aker BP, Equinor, and Vår Energi with over US$3 billion in loans and underwriting. This financing contradicts the EU’s decision to support the establishment of a ban on further Arctic oil and gas development and to not purchase such hydrocarbons.

The energy crisis has led the EU to reconsider its opposition to Arctic oil and gas. Now, 200 investors, businesses, researchers, trade unions, think tanks, NGOs and public profiles are urging the EU in an open letter to stand firm. Walking back on the moratorium included in the EU's current Arctic Strategy would carry serious climate, environmental, financial, and security risks for Europe. The answer to Europe's energy future lies in the green transition, not in new fossil fuel frontiers.

In February 2024, Danske Bank adopted a fossil fuel policy with ambitious restrictions for upstream oil and gas expansion. The policy has been praised for its alignment with climate science. Two years after Danske Bank’s adoption of the policy this analysis sheds light on how the bank’s exposure to fossil fuel expansion has changed and reveals that Danske Bank holds investments worth billions against their own rules.

Nordic Center for Sustainable Finance har samlet erhvervslivets største brancheorganisationer DI og DE, den samlede finanssektor repræsenteret af Finans Danmark og Forsikring og Pension, energisektoren repræsenteret af Green Power Denmark og civilsamfundet repræsenteret af Concito, Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke og Nyt Europa. Her præsenterer de fem anbefalinger til, hvordan EU’s kommende budget kan blive historisk grønt. Og de gør det klart, at et grønt EU-budget ikke er et nichekrav fra grønne organisationer, men en fælles prioritet på tværs af sektorer.

Nordic Center for Sustainable Finance has united a broad Danish coalition from business, finance, energy, and civil society to present five recommendations for making the EU’s upcoming budget historically green. The next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF 2028–2034) should mark a decisive break with costly and unsustainable fossil fuel imports and set a clear course towards climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest. This coalition with Danish Industry, Danish Chamber of Commerce, Finance Denmark, Insurance and Pension Denmark, Green Power Denmark and Concito shows that a green EU budget is not a niche climate demand, but a shared priority across sectors that normally have very different interests.

Danish investors finance the emission of 111 million tons of CO2e every year through their investments in international shares and bonds. The emissions are not covered by the Danish Climate Act because they take place outside Denmark’s borders. In addition, only about 10% of the 111 million tons are covered by the investor's own climate targets. This is shown in this mapping of Danish investor's climate targets.

Denne analysen viser at Oljefondet fortsatt har 142 milliarder kroner i kullindustrien til tross for at det er 10 år siden et enstemmig Storting vedtok å fase ut Oljefondets kullinvesteringer. Dette gjør fondet til Europas største kullinvestor. Halvparten av investeringene er i selskaper som har planer om å starte nye kullprosjekter, stikk i strid med målene i Paris-avtalen.

The climate impact of trucks is largely overlooked by the financial sector. Yet, trucks are a major climate pollutant, and the sector is only transitioning slowly, far behind passenger cars. This is however about to change. The truck market is expected to see a rapid shift from sales of diesel to batteries, presenting a major business opportunity, but also a significant risk for truck manufacturers. For investors, it is high time to consider if investee truck manufacturers are aligned with the incoming changes. In this brief, the Nordic Center for Sustainable Finance recommends engaging Volvo Trucks and offers advice on how to get started, as NCSF believes that investor engagement could effectively contribute to a battery-electric transformation of Volvo.

This report shows, that while climate experts are issuing more and more dire warnings of what will happen if we fail to transition into a 1.5°C world, the biggest Nordic banks continue to pour billions of USD in financing and investments into coal, oil, and gas companies planning new fossil fuel projects that will bring this global climate goal out of reach. In the past two years (July 2022 to June 2024), the nine biggest Nordic banks provided $4.9 billion in financing to coal expanders and expanding oil and gas producers. DNB, SEB, and Nordea account for 95 percent of these loans. Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the nine banks have provided a total of $31 billion to these companies. The nine biggest Nordic banks also hold investments worth $6.0 billion in coal expanders and expanding oil and gas producers. DNB and Nordea account for 60 per cent of these investments. For coal expanders specifically, Nordea accounts for 52 percent of the investments, totaling $407 million.

This report finds that the Norwegian Oil Fund holds $6.15 billion in bonds in 39 oil and gas companies that are actively pursuing expansion projects incompatible with global climate goals. Among the 15 companies most financed through bonds by the Norwegian Oil Fund’s asset manager, NBIM, are global majors such as TotalEnergies, Exxon Mobil, BP and Eni. All of these companies are developing numerous controversial new oil and gas projects and lack credible transition plans.

The steel industry forms the backbone of production, construction, and infrastructure. At the same time, no industry has higher CO₂ emissions, as steel accounts for about 11% of global CO₂ emissions and 7-9% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. 90% of these emissions stem from the use of coal in blast furnaces. It is already possible to produce steel without coal today, but the transition is currently moving too slowly. Without further action, the steel industry risks depleting 23% of the world’s carbon budget for 2030-2050. In this brief the Nordic Center for Sustainable Finance recommends engaging ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel and offers advice on how to get started. As the world's second- and fourth-largest steel producers - and the two largest ones outside of China - these companies have a significant impact on the direction of the industry and whether the transition succeeds. Unfortunately, both companies are lagging.

In this roadmap we present 11 recommendations for political action the Danish Parliament can take to reduce the massive climate footprint of Denmark's financial sector. The Danish National Bank have recently published new calculations of the sector's financed emissions that puts the climate footprint of investments in listed companies at 100 million tonnes of CO2e - which is more than double the amount of the national footprint. Still there is no green political strategy for the financial sector.

This analysis shows that the Norwegian Oil Fund has invested a total of 189 billion NOK in coal companies, despite Norway's ambitions to be an international climate leader. These investments are spread across 97 coal companies worldwide. 112 billion of the investments are placed in 47 companies that have expansion plans that contradict the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Denne analysen viser at det norske Oljefondet har investert hele 189 milliarder NOK i kullselskaper, til tross for Norges ambisjoner om å trekke Oljefondet ut av industrien og å være en internasjonal klimaleder. Disse investeringene er fordelt på 97 kullselskaper verden over som driver med termisk kull for kraftproduksjon og metallurgisk kull for stålproduksjon. Noe av det mest bekymringsverdige ved funnene er at 112 milliarder er investert i 47 selskaper med ekspansjonsplaner som strider mot målene i Paris-avtalen.

Danske Bank's new fossil fuel policy will see the bank divest from nearly all of the fossil fuel companies in its portfolio. The change has made Danske Bank one of the international climate leaders in the financial sector, setting an example for other banks and pensions fund to follow.

This analysis finds that Eksfin, the Norwegian export credit agency, provided up towards USD 1 billion to fossil fuels from July 2021 to June 2023.

This reports uncovers that 16 Danish pension funds have invested almost 25 billion DKK in the worst fossil fuel companies and their extraction of coal, oil, and gas. It also highligst significant differences in the climate behavior of the Danish pension funds. While PFA and Danica together account for 42% of the sector's most polluting investments, AP Pension and AkademikerPension only account for 1.3%.

This reports uncovers that despite the Norwegian Oil Fund stating it has sold out of coal and despite Norway’s repeated promises that the Fund will be an international climate leader, the fund still has tens of billions of Norwegian Kroner (NOK) invested in the industry.

In March 2023 ActionAid Denmark lodged a complaint over Danske Bank with the Danish Consumer Ombudsman after discovering fossil fuel investments amounting to half a billion DKK in the banks green investment funds.

A brief analysis of Danske Bank’s Climate Action Plan highlighting how there is a gap in the new plan as Danske Bank will stop providing loans for fossil fuel companies that are expanding, but will continue to invest in those same companies.

This report provides an overview of the financial relationships between 10 major Nordic banks and the fossil fuel industry, as well as the policies the banks have in place to regulate their links to the industry. From July 2020 – June 2022 the 10 banks have provided in total US$ 21.2 billion in loans and underwriting to the fossil fuel industry. Their total financing now amounts to US$ 89.7 billion since the adoption of the Paris Agreement. On average, there is a decreasing trend in oil and gas financing since 2016, driven mostly by Nordea and SEB. However, financing for companies expanding fossil fuels and coal companies has remained stable.

The report proposes 3 regulatory measures of how politicians can make the Banking Sector in Scandinavia and the EU more sustainable.

Danish pension funds are investing billions in 93 oil and gas expansion projects.

This report uncovers how the 16 largest Danish pension funds have invested 46 billion DKK in fossil fuel companies.

The insurance industry plays a crucial role in the green transition, but is often overlooked. This memo explains the insurance sector's role in financing fossil projects that drive the climate crisis – and why pension funds should actively address investments in the insurance companies.

This report uncovers how Denmark is providing international public finance to the fossil fuel industry and encourages Denmark to commit to ending all international public finance of fossil fuels before COP26.

This report provides the first ever overview of the financial relationships between 10 major Nordic banks and the fossil fuel industry, as well as the policies the banks have in place to regulate their links to the industry.