Danske Bank A/S will refrain from investing in about 90 companies involved in thermal coal or tar sands, in a bid for sustainability and responsible investment.
The move reflects the lender's adherence to the Paris Pledge for Action to help limit global warming, the Danish bank said in a statement.
However, Danske Bank will not stop its metallurgical coal investments. Thermal coal is used for producing energy and can be substituted, and extracting oil from tar sands has significant negative environmental consequences, but for metallurgical coal used to produce steel, there is no viable large-scale alternative.
A few days earlier, Italian insurer Generali approved its climate change strategy that will see it increase its green investments and gradually cut its exposures to coal-related companies.
