Japan megabanks, Mizuho, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) are among the world’s top ten biggest fossil fuel financiers. A new analysis by Banking on Climate Chaos reveals that in 2024 alone, these three megabanks collectively committed USD 106.27 billion in financing, accounting for 12% of global fossil fuel financing.
The Banking on Climate Chaos report covers the world’s top 65 banks’ lending and underwriting to over 2,700 fossil fuel companies. Since the Paris Agreement, banks have committed USD 7.9 trillion to fossil fuel financing, with 2024 totaling USD 869 billion.
“International financial institutions continue to pour millions of dollars into Southeast Asia for fossil fuel expansion, placing climate-vulnerable communities at immense risk. The region possesses abundant renewable energy potential that would enable us to break away from coal and other fossil fuels and move us towards a just and clean energy transition,” said Angelica Dacanay, Lead Campaigner of Energy Shift Southeast Asia.
Major US banks like JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, and the UK’s Barclays are also among the leading fossil fuel financiers globally. Notably, Singapore’s DBS is the only Southeast Asia-based bank joining the list. These institutions, including Japanese megabanks, are financing the unprecedented expansion of fossil gas across Southeast Asia.
Southeast Asia faces massive fossil gas expansion, with 135.6 GW of new gas power plants in development, alongside 16.7 mtpa of export and 80.9 mtpa of import terminals. This expansion poses grave threat to the region’s biodiversity hotspots, including the Coral Triangle, Mekong Delta, and the Verde Island Passage.
“In the Philippines, the Japanese megabanks are involved in financing fossil gas expansion in the Verde Island Passage, our own Amazon of the ocean. This expansion threatens the livelihoods of over 10 million people, including fisherfolk and coastal communities, who depend on this vibrant ecosystem, said Gerry Arances, Executive Director of the Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development.
Banking on Climate Chaos is authored by Rainforest Action Network, BankTrack, the Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development, Indigenous Environmental Network, Oil Change International, Reclaim Finance, Sierra Club, and Urgewald. It has been endorsed by 480 organizations in 69 countries.