NatWest scales-up support for net-zero transition

By Virginia Furness

LONDON (Reuters) -British lender NatWest plans to double the amount of money it will dedicate to help clients meet decarbonisation and climate goals, saying on Friday that it recognised it needed to do more to support the energy transition.

As well as setting a new target to provide 200 billion pounds ($268.70 billion) in transition and climate finance over the next five years, NatWest has expanded its climate-related financing programme to cover industries crucial to the energy transition like iron and steel and cement.

"Supporting the real economy...will require vast investment not only in those industries delivering climate solutions, but across a broader spectrum of industries, including hard-to-abate and emission-intensive sectors," the bank said in a statement on its website.

Banks globally are looking for ways to support clients from energy-intensive sectors in cutting carbon emissions while at the same time reducing their focus on pure-play climate initiatives.

HSBC is the latest bank to leave the industry's climate coalition, following major U.S. lenders as some governments' net zero ambitions cool.

NatWest CEO Paul Thwaite told journalists that the bank remains fully committed to the Net Zero Banking Alliance.

Its strategy will now include activities like nuclear power generation and gas with carbon capture and storage, but it has dropped social financing.

The bank reached 110 billion pounds of climate and sustainable finance in the second-quarter of this year, surpassing a 100 billion pound target, its head of climate change James Close said in a LinkedIn post on Friday.

($1 = 0.7443 pounds)

(Reporting by Virginia Furness; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)