At a glance
Our ambition is to become a net zero bank by 2050.
Supporting our customers is core to our strategy, and financing their transition is both critical to them and aligned to our net zero ambition. We believe delivering the transition will make the global economy stronger and more resilient.
Our updated Net Zero Transition Plan combines our conviction about the opportunity and necessity of the net zero transition, with pragmatism about what delivering on our ambition in a dynamic world will take.
It sets out the actions we’re continuing to take and details how our approach is informed by and aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Our progress
Our first Net Zero Transition Plan was published in January 2024, providing an overview of our net zero strategy and implementation plan.
Since then, we’ve made progress towards achieving net zero across our financed emissions footprint and in our own operations, and have deployed capital to support our customers’ transition to net zero.
In the first half of 2025, we mobilised $54.1 billion in sustainable finance and investment – a 19 per cent year-on-year increase.
That contributed to a total of $447.7 billion of sustainable finance and investment between 2020 and mid-2025, advancing towards our ambition to provide or facilitate $750 billion to $1 trillion by 2030.
We’ve reduced by 30% our absolute on-balance sheet financed emissions (based on the baseline and progress numbers across target sectors reported in our Annual Report and Accounts 2024). And we’ve reduced by 76% our direct Scope 1 and 2 emissions (from a 2019 baseline).
Supporting our customers
We continue to believe that the greatest contribution we can make to real world emission reductions is to deploy our strengths in support of our customers’ transition.
Our new commercial strategy to support Corporate and Institutional Banking and Commercial Banking customers’ transition, which was informed by a review of around 4,000 customer transition plans, focuses on mobilising capital and capabilities towards areas where customer demand and HSBC’s real economy impact are greatest.
According to research we commissioned, 60 per cent of the corporate customers surveyed across 12 markets view the transition as a key business opportunity, and 80 per cent said they expect their company to accelerate their approach to the climate transition in the next three years.
We want to be our customers’ most trusted international financial partner through the transition, creating long-term value for them and our shareholders.
Our reach across global value chains and trade corridors, deep roots in Asia and the Middle East, and expertise in infrastructure and project finance mean we can play a prominent role in financing the transition where it matters most.
As part of our updated Net Zero Transition Plan, we’re using a tailored approach to best serve our three key customer groups: Corporate and Institutional Banking and Commercial Banking customers; institutional and individual investors; and personal, Premier and Private Bank customers.
Building on our progress towards our own net zero ambition and targets, our updated plan intensifies our efforts to be:
Customer focused
Further aligning our strengths, capabilities and capital to our customers’ evolving transition needs
Commercial
Pursuing with greater clarity the growing opportunities the transition affords our customers, shareholders and the economies we serve
Agile
Leveraging our simpler structure and responding pragmatically to a dynamic external environment
Evolving our approach
We’re committed to evolving our approach, recognising the dynamic world in which we and our customers operate. Since our initial Net Zero Transition Plan was published in January 2024, the global landscape has shifted markedly, making the pace of transition more uneven.
To help our customers navigate this complexity, we have prioritised developing deeper insight into their specific needs and transition outlook.
Our approach is informed by and aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement and seeks to balance ambition on net zero while remaining realistic and credible given global developments.
Our implementation plan
Reflecting our vision for our role in the transition, our Net Zero Transition Plan is structured around three implementation pillars:
Supporting our customers
We’re aligning our capital and capabilities with our customers’ transition goals, by tailoring our products and services to the specific needs of different customers around the world.
Embedding net zero into the way we operate
We’re working to incorporate net zero considerations into our broader decision-making activities, our climate risk management framework, our metrics, and in our own operations and supply chains.
Partnering for an enabling environment
We’re partnering with and engaging with governments, regulators, academia, civil society and other stakeholders to help accelerate the flow of capital towards the transition.
With our updated plan, we’re focused on supporting today’s economy to decarbonise and enabling innovation, growth, and opportunity in the new economy, while continuing to make progress towards our own net zero ambitions and targets.
We have also updated our interim sector-specific financed emissions targets from fixed targets to target ranges, in light of a review of current decarbonisation rates, the latest scientific evidence and credible industry-specific net zero pathways.
Electric boats that ‘fly’
We’re supporting Artemis Technologies to deliver its novel clean tech solution as the maritime industry faces up to the decarbonisation challenge.
