Petition is addressed to: eduskunta

 
Dear Nordea, 

In 2021, the Director of the International Energy Agency, Faith Birol, unambigously stated that "there can be no new investments in oil, gas and coal, from now – from this year – if the world is to stay within safe limits of global heating and meet the goal of net zero emissions by 2050"(IEA). If new fossil fuel projects go ahead we will fail to limit global warming this century to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and so fail to stave off catastrophic climate damage. That was three years ago. Nordea claims that "sustainability is at the core of [its] business strategy" (Nordea) and aims to reduce carbon emissions from lending and investment portfolios by 40-50% in 2030 (Nordea), a mere six years from now. And yet, Nordea continues to finance new conventional oil and gas projects in 2023/2024, ranking first in Finland and 54th globally in terms of finance volume for fossil fuel projects and companies since the Paris Agreement (BankingClimateChaos), despite these seemingly ambitious targets for sustainability.

The International Energy Agency's 2023 assessment of further development and usage of fossil fuels gives clear guidelines for new conventional oil and gas infrastructure (IEA):

"[...] there is no need for new long lead time upstream oil and gas conventional projects, nor for new coal mines or mine extensions. [...] Fossil fuel GHG emissions must fall by 97% by 2050."

Nordea's actions and guidelines (BanktrackNordea,Nordea), however, are not aligned with the policies recommended by the IEA nor the aims of the Paris Agreement, and ultimately conflict with the prospect of a safe future.
According to the "Banking on Climate Chaos" report (BankingClimateChaosReport2024), Nordea's actions since the Paris Agreement in 2015 have been off track. Nordea has used over $20 billion USD to finance or invest in fossil fuel-based companies or projects. In 2023 alone, the warmest year so far on record with an average temperature of 1.45°C above pre-industrial levels (WMO), we see that Nordea provided financing for:

• Oil, gas, and coal companies expanding fossil fuels: $569 million (almost $5 billion since the Paris Agreement)
• Arctic production companies: $47 million ($595 million since the Paris Agreement)
• Liquefied methane gas companies: $200 million (over $1 billion since the Paris Agreement)
• Coal power companies: $4 million ($50 million since the Paris Agreement)

Nordea's guidelines from November 2023 are not enough. Investigations and analysis by Banktrack and other NGOs (BankingOnThinIce2022) reveal that these new guidelines on net-zero target and interim emission reductions are full of loopholes (BanktrackNordea,Nordea) enabling Nordea to continue financing new fossil fuel projects. These loopholes include:

• despite net-zero target and emissions reduction targets, there is still no exclusion for financing for companies expanding conventional oil and gas exploration; Nordea continues to lend to or invest in e.g. Equinor and Exxon Mobil (BanktrackNordea)
• due to the narrow definition of Arctic drilling, Nordea can within their own guidelines continue to finance Arctic drilling projects and the companies involved in it. 
• Nordea continues to invest in and finance companies that exploit thermal coal, as the guidelines only exclude companies with more than 5% in revenue from thermal coal infrastructure projects and 30% in revenue from total coal. 

 
We urge Nordea to adapt its policies and guidelines to the minimum of the International Energy Agency's standard (IEA). 

We demand an unambiguous change in Nordea's guidelines for fossil fuel based industries, in which all new conventional oil and gas projects and companies which invest in such are excluded from underwriting, investments, finance and lending without the current thresholds in revenue. This makes financial sense: there is no profitable future in the fossil fuel industry or a world powered by it.

As concerned scientists, academics and global citizens, we see it as our responsibility to speak up and act. Fossil fuels are endangering our future by wreaking havoc on the global climate and creating a human (Ripple et al. 2024, Xu et al. 2020) and ecological crisis on a terrifying scale. If Nordea decides to continue financing new fossil fuel projects, we are committed to take immediate and public measures against Nordea.

The world is at a critical juncture, and the choices that institutions like Nordea make today will have a lasting impact on the future of the planet. We hope that you will consider the moral, ethical, and economic benefits of divesting from fossil fuels and leading the way towards a fossil-free future. We are open to hear any comments or responses as well as to discuss any step forwards. For future communications you can contact Scientist Rebellion Finland at: scientistrebellion@elokapina.me

Scientist Rebellion, Finland