Sustainability FAQs

HSBC’s climate strategy supports our ambition to be a net zero bank by 2050. We’re leveraging our global reach, balance sheet and role in international trade corridors to support our customers’ transition. At the same time, we are embedding net zero into the way we operate and working with partners to support the enabling environments that can accelerate capital flows. We also recognise the need to protect the natural environment and the role it plays in achieving net zero.

Our Net Zero Transition Plan, published in 2025, is built around three implementation pillars – supporting our customers, embedding net zero in the way we operate and partnering for an enabling environment.

We’re making progress towards our ambition to be a net zero bank by 2050, including through the finance we provide to support the transition and by reducing emissions across our own operations and our financed emissions portfolio.

Sustainable finance and investment: In 2025, we provided and facilitated $102bn, bringing our cumulative total to $496bn since January 2020. This keeps us on track to meet our $750bn and $1trn sustainable finance and investment target by 2030.

Our own operations: In 2025, we reduced our own operational emissions (scope 1, 2 and business travel) by more than 80% since 2019.

Financed emissions: As of end of 2024, we have made progress in reducing our financed emissions across several sectors:

• Oil and gas – down 38% compared to our baseline
• Power and utilities – down 18% compared to our baseline
• Thermal coal mining– down 94% compared to our baseline

For more details, see our Annual Report and Accounts.

Since the publication of our initial plan in January 2024, there have been significant developments in the global landscape which have impacted the pace of transition. We’re committed to evolving our approach over time to respond to changing contexts.

Our updated Net Zero Transition Plan, published in November 2025, reflects the realities of the evolving transition playing out very differently across the global economy and reaffirms our continued ambition to become a net zero bank by 2050.

For more details, see our Net Zero Transition Plan.

The updated Net Zero Transition Plan responds to significant developments in the global landscape and takes advantage of our simpler structure.

It is informed by the latest scientific guidance and pathways and our deeper understanding of our customers’ specific transition journeys, drawing on insight from around 4,000 corporate customers’ transition plans and reaffirms our continued ambition to become a net zero bank by 2050.

For more details, see our Net Zero Transition Plan.

Supporting our customers is core to our strategy and financing our customers’ transition is both critical to them and aligned to our net zero ambition.

Our updated transition plan sets out the actions we are continuing to take, and plan to take, to achieve our net zero ambition, applying our strengths as a financial institution to support our customers’ needs.

Our refined approach combines a deeper understanding of our customers’ transitions with the advantages of a simpler, more agile HSBC – better equipped to provide banking and investment solutions spanning sectors and value chains. 

For more details, see our Net Zero Transition Plan.

We have revised our ambition to be net zero in our operations, business travel and supply chain by 2050.

Emissions from our operations and supply chain contribute around 3% of the Group’s total reported emissions (excluding our Asset Management business) and we’ve reduced our own operational emissions by more than 80% since 2019.

Progress in reducing emissions in our supply chain has proven slower than anticipated mainly due to the slower pace of the transition across the real economy.

On our current pathway to net zero by 2050, we expect to cut emissions by around 40% in emissions across our operations, business travel and supply chain by 2030, compared with our 2019 baseline year.

For more details, see our Net Zero Transition Plan.

As we reached the midpoint of our 2030 financed emissions sector targets, we have reviewed and updated our targets, metrics and associated policies to seek to remain science-aligned and compatible with our own net zero ambition, while remaining realistic and credible given global developments. Our thermal coal mining target remains unchanged, aligned with our thermal coal phase-out policy and thermal coal exposures reporting.

Our approach will need to continue to evolve to keep pace with evolving scientific scenarios and pathways, industry guidance, market practice, and data availability.

For more details, see our Net Zero Transition Plan.

Our 2030 financed emissions sector targets remain aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement to hold the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.

For more details, see our Annual Report and Accounts.

• We recognise the critical role that climate technologies will play in the transition
• We are well-positioned to connect innovative start-ups with our global customers that are looking to invest in climate tech ventures and adopt solutions to accelerate their transition journey
• With our Innovation Banking platform and deep balance sheet, we can help bridge the gap between early-stage development and large-scale deployment

For more details, see our Net Zero Transition Plan.

• Our strategy is to support emission reductions in the wider economy by working with our portfolio of customers to facilitate the emission reductions they are seeking to make
• We recognise that our customers are facing challenges, especially in light of the slower pace of the transition
• As such, we are seeking to support customers that are making positive steps to transition to a net zero economy

For more details, see our Net Zero Transition Plan.