Standard Bank Offers Green Finance for Clients to Reduce Risk

Africa’s largest bank by assets is offering clients in carbon-intensive industries sustainable finance products to lower risk across its business and is on track to publish a broader fossil fuels funding policy by year end.

Standard Bank Group Ltd. has already published a policy on coal-related lending in the energy and mining sectors, and is one of several South African lenders to begin disclosing risks in its business related to fossil fuels, as investors increasingly back companies that prioritize sustainability.

The company has “undertaken a preliminary assessment of higher carbon-emitting sectors in our portfolio,” Wendy Dobson, head of group corporate ...