PKO Bank Polska to limit investment in sectors with high carbon emissions

According to a newly published press release the bank limits the financing of high-emission sectors. At the end of 2019, the bank’s balance sheet exposure related to industries defined as green amounted to 0.98% of the balance sheet, compared to only 0.52% of the exposure to high-carbon sectors. The bank’s credit policy for the high-carbon energy sector, updated in 2020, tightened the funding criteria and it has been extended to a wider range of enterprises, including those operating in coal-fired industries. It also assumes no new involvement in the hard coal and lignite mining sector. As a consequence of its application a gradual reduction is expected in the involvement in these sectors.

In its credit policies, the bank also adopted a reduction strategy for activities covered by the EU’s Plastics Directive and a cautious approach to the oil and gas mining, chemicals, chemical products and rubber industries. The cautious approach is reflected, among other things, in recognizing compliance with environmental standards and impact on the environment, as well as in assessing the business model in terms of the concept of sustainable business development.

The adopted credit policy towards high-emission industries is coherent and takes into account all aspects of their functioning, without omitting any elements of the chain of interdependence of these industries. An important element of it is also the bank’s involvement in the energy transformation, to help entities operating in high-emission industries to improve their energy efficiency and improve their energy mix by implementing low-emission and energy-saving solutions.