Press release
Standard Chartered publishes Transition Plan
The Bank sets out framework to support transition and points to commercial opportunity, following sustainable and transition finance growth
London – Standard Chartered has published its Transition Plan, setting out in detail how the bank will continue to integrate climate considerations into decision-making across its business and operations, to deliver against its net zero agenda, while supporting sustainable growth.
The Transition Plan articulates how Standard Chartered aims to reach net zero across the bank’s financing activity by 2050 (Scope 3), and across the bank’s own operations by 2025 (Scope 1 and Scope 2). Considering New-to-Bank (NTB) and Existing-to-Bank (ETB) clients, it outlines a transparent, actionable framework to deliver on these commitments through corporate and institutional client engagement alongside innovative sustainable and transition finance solutions deployed across its global footprint.
The Transition Plan primarily focuses on Standard Chartered’s material emissions, also known as the bank’s financed emissions. These are the emissions of high-emitting clients, where the pace and scale of the transformation needed presents a significant opportunity to drive innovation and growth.
Bill Winters, Group Chief Executive at Standard Chartered, said: “As a global bank serving the cross-border needs of our clients, we’re clear that the transition to a low carbon economy presents a significant opportunity to accelerate sustainable and enduring growth across our markets. Whether we’re supporting clients with their transition strategies and business models of the future, developing solutions to finance new innovative technologies, or financing low-carbon infrastructure projects in India, Indonesia, South Africa, and beyond – it is important business for Standard Chartered. It makes commercial sense, and the numbers speak for themselves. As set out in our Annual Report 2024 last week, we are on track to generate over USD1 billion in Sustainable Finance income by the end of this year.”
Marisa Drew, Chief Sustainability Officer at Standard Chartered, said: “The transition to a low carbon economy is both more compelling and crucial than ever. As a bank that offers access to sustainable growth opportunities across Asia, Africa and the Middle East, we believe Standard Chartered has an important role to play in supporting our clients and markets as they navigate complicated transition challenges, while keeping the overriding objective of the sustainable transition of the real-world economy firmly in our sight lines.
This Transition Plan represents an important milestone as we continue to deliver against our Net Zero Roadmap, which we published in 2021, and remains unchanged. It speaks to the collaborative efforts of teams across the bank and will serve as a fundamental catalyst for delivery, translating our commitments into a framework for operationalising and executing on our net zero agenda.
The Transition Plan has been developed considering guidelines provided by the Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) and Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) frameworks. In relation to the bank’s financed emissions, Standard Chartered, in addition to setting targets to be net zero by 2050, has also now completed interim 2030 target setting against all twelve high-emitting sectors as defined by Net-Zero Banking Alliance Guidelines for Climate Target Setting for Banks (NZBA Guidance).
Dana Barsky, Global Head, Sustainability Strategy and Net Zero at Standard Chartered, said: “In order to assure integrity in our process and have a sound reference point underpinning our targets and progress, the Bank has consciously chosen a science-based approach to its net zero programme. We also engaged EY to confirm that our targets for Aluminium, Automotive Manufacturers, Cement, Commercial Real Estate, Oil and Gas, Power, Shipping, Steel and Coal, meet the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement, and are mathematically accurate in reference to third-party scientific scenarios. We’re pleased to say that Standard Chartered is the first Global Systemically Important Bank (GSIB) to have such external confirmation of its targets.”
The Transition Plan outlines the governance framework and description of controls around net zero calculations, target management, client engagement, and decision-making processes, all designed to maintain robust oversight, accountability, and alignment with net zero objectives.
Standard Chartered’s business model reflects its strategy of combining differentiated cross-border capabilities with leading wealth management expertise and the bank’s Sustainability business is an integral part of its client offering across all business segments, and the bank as a whole. Reflecting this, Standard Chartered’s full-year 2024 results, announced last week (Friday 21 February) reported:
- $982 million income generated from sustainable finance in 2024, against a target of at least $1 billion annual income by 2025.
- $121 billion cumulative mobilisation of sustainable finance from January 2021 to September 2024, against a commitment to mobilise $300 billion by 2030.
- Standard Chartered became an early adopter of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).
- An absolute facilitated emissions target for oil and gas. This target sets a carbon budget that requires a 29% reduction in absolute financed emissions for the sector by 2030, when calculated from a 2020 baseline.
- Completed 12 out of 12 of the NZBA high-emitting sectors covered by 2030 science-based financed emissions targets.
- Ongoing commitment to reach net zero financed emissions by 2050 and operations by 2025.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
For further information please contact
Charlotte Love
Director, Sustainability Communications