Bank of China Unveils Carbon Emissions Action Plan

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One of China’s big state-owned banks has drafted an “action plan” to support the carbon reduction targets unveiled by Beijing last year.

Bank of China (BOC) announced on 27 September that it had recently completed the drafting of the “Bank of China Action Plan to Service Peak Carbon and Carbon Neutrality Targets” (中国银行服务“碳达峰、碳中和”目标行动计划).

The move comes following a push for increased green finance in China since the start of 2021, after Beijing last year set the emissions targets of achieving peak carbon by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060.

The Action Plan outlines detailed road maps for BOC policy across a total of 15 areas, including organisational framework, business development strategy, production innovation, green operation, stress testing, international cooperation, capabilities development and tech.

BOC said that the Action Plan serves to provide specific measures following the release of the “Bank of China 14th Five Year Green Finance Plan” (中国银行“十四五”绿色金融规划) released earlier in the year.

According to BOC as of the end of June its domestic green loan balance exceeded 1 trillion yuan, for an increase of 15% compared to the start of the year, and growth well ahead of all forms of lending.

2021 has also seen BOC sign up for the Principles of Responsible Banking (PRB) and express its support for the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).