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Swedish banks talk about sustainability and climate responsibility.
They actually invest SEK 97 billion in companies seeking oil in the Arctic, according to a review by Aftonbladet and the Fair Finance Guide.
– Financing oil extraction in the Arctic is like putting gasoline on a fire, says Frode Pleym, Norwegian director of Greenpeace.
The alarm came from the Norwegian Polar Institute one day in September this year.
Svalbard’s glaciers are melting faster than ever. This year alone, they lose an average of half a meter in depth.
Few in the research world were surprised. Nowhere in the world is climate change moving faster than in the Arctic.
On December 12, 2015, the Paris climate agreement was signed. The countries of the world agreed to keep the temperature rise well below two degrees and with a view to 1.5 degrees.
The following spring, Norway opened an entirely new area in the Barents Sea for oil extraction, further north on the Norwegian continental shelf. Thirteen companies received licenses to bring equipment there and start searching. It was the opening shot in the intense search for oil now taking place.
According to the researchers, the world has already found many more fossil fuels than we can burn if we want to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis. And now the criticism of the oil hunt is growing.
Drilling more oil in the situation we find ourselves in is incomprehensibly irresponsible and doing it in the Arctic is almost criminal, says Frode Pleym, Norwegian director of Greenpeace.
Photo: Jerker Ivarsson
Nowhere in the world is global warming going faster than in the Arctic and, above all, it is felt in the Svalbard archipelago.
Photo: Johanna Hanno
Frode Pleym, Norwegian Director of Greenpeace
You bet billions
Aftonbladet has enlisted the help of the Fair Finance Guide, run by Swedish consumers, to examine the extent to which Swedish banks are involved in financing the search for oil.
All major Swedish banks speak in open policy texts about the importance of contributing to sustainable development as major financial players and enabling the green transition necessary to achieve climate goals.
But after a review of the connections of seven big banks to the 40 fossil fuel companies that extract or have bought a license to extract oil in the Arctic, a different picture emerges.
Together the banks invest almost SEK 12 billion in oil companies. In addition, loans and other financial aid have contributed just over SEK 85 billion to oil companies.
“Rhyme very bad”
This means that the main Swedish banks invest a total of SEK 97 billion in companies linked to Arctic oil, a figure that corresponds to SEK 9,500 for every Swede.
– Due to bank secrecy, we do not have full transparency on your loans, but what we have been able to unearth is serious enough, says Jakob König, an expert at the Fair Finance Guide, who initiated a call against banks.
The financing of the oil companies is remarkable, he says.
– In practice, this means that Swedish bank customers unknowingly allow continued exploitation of the Arctic. I think many bank customers are very upset about this and rhyme very badly with the climate promises of the banks.
Photo: Linus Meyer
Jakob König, Fair Finance Guide Expert
Lundin looking for oil
The biggest borrower from Swedish banks is the Norwegian oil company Aker BP with 41 billion SEK.
Sweden’s Lundin Energy is in second place with more than SEK 25 billion.
The company was previously called Lundin Petroleum and for several years it has been investigated for violations of international law in Sudan. As recently as last summer, the prosecutor announced that there are sufficient grounds to prosecute senior officials. Today, test drilling is underway in the Barents Sea.
Although no major discoveries have yet been made, Lundin bought additional oil assets in the area for SEK 1.1 billion through his Norwegian company in October.
Photo: Pi Frisk / SvD / TT
Lundin Energy, later Lundin Petroleum, drilled for oil on this platform. Stock Photography.
Oil companies cleaned up
SEB is the largest financier of oil companies with loans of 32 billion Swedish crowns. Nordea, Danske Bank and Swedbank also have large loans.
Frode Pleym reacts strongly to oil financing from Swedish banks.
– I assume that banks have a sustainability policy. In such cases, it’s not worth the paper it’s written on, he says.
Unlike the other big banks, Handelsbanken, Skandia and Länsförsäkringar have not made loans to oil companies and have only minor investments.
Last year, Handelsbanken decided to eliminate fossil fuel companies from almost all of its investments.
“Gasoline on fire”
Norwegian Greenpeace, together with the environmental organization Natur og Ungdom, has sued the Norwegian state, which they believe violates their promises in the Paris Agreement and Norwegian environmental law.
In November, the case was taken to the Supreme Court.
Greenpeace’s Frode Pleym hopes to stop what he calls the Norwegian state’s search for oil in the Arctic. It demands that Swedish banks take on significantly more responsibility in the future.
– Do you want to continue encouraging the unscrupulous oil companies or do you want to start taking responsibility for the climate? The world can achieve climate goals from Paris, but financing Arctic oil drilling is the exact opposite. It is like putting gasoline on a fire.
Footnote: Here is the link to the Fair Finance Guides appeal against oil financing from banks.
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