HSBC Says It’s Time to End ‘Negative Bias’ on Fossil Fuels (1)

The new head of sustainability at HSBC Holdings Plc says the time has come for banks to stop penalizing clients that have a large carbon footprint.

Julian Wentzel, who was appointed chief sustainability officer at Europe’s largest bank this month, says an overly restrictive policy toward fossil fuels puts at risk the reliable supply of energy and may even undermine the transition to a low-carbon future.

Julian Wentzel

Source: HSBC Holdings Plc

“Too many people have been negatively biased towards the carbon economy without acknowledging that the carbon economy plays a very important role from an energy security perspective,” Wentzel said in an interview. ...