UK banks were Europe’s largest providers of finance to the coal industry in the four years after the 2021 Cop26 summit, according to a study by environmental and human rights group Urgewald. Their reported financing totalled $8.3bn, despite banks’ climate commitments, while overall coal financing from EU banks fell.

Barclays and HSBC drove much of the UK total: Barclays’ coal financing rose 34% from about $1.2bn in 2022 to $1.6bn in 2025, and HSBC’s more than doubled from $200m to $414m. Across Britain-based banks, funding to companies in the coal value chain grew 17%, compared with a 46% fall among EU banks. Globally, coal financing averaged about $117bn a year; Chinese banks provided $289bn over the period, while US banks provided $67bn. HSBC and Barclays said their policies restrict financing to some coal businesses and cited their climate or transition-finance commitments.