Banks poured $906B into fossil fuels in 2025, report finds

Global Banks Increased Fossil Fuel Financing by 8% in 2025, Report Finds

The world’s 65 largest banks committed $906 billion to fossil fuel companies in 2025, an 8% increase from the previous year, according to the 17th annual “Banking on Climate Chaos” report released on June 8. The findings mark the second consecutive year of rising fossil fuel finance, deepening concerns that the global banking sector is moving further from alignment with climate goals a decade after the Paris Agreement.desmog

Record Spending Despite Climate Pledges

The report, published by the Rainforest Action Network and partner organizations including BankTrack, Sierra Club, and Reclaim Finance, found that the $906 billion in 2025 financing represented $65 billion more than the $869 billion committed in 2024. Since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, the 65 banks covered in the report have channeled a cumulative $8.7 trillion into oil, gas, and coal operations.banktrack

Financing for companies actively expanding fossil fuel production saw an even sharper rise, with banks committing $508 billion to the sector — a roughly 27% increase from 2024.desmog

JPMorgan Leads, Followed by Bank of America and MUFG

JPMorgan Chase retained its position as the world’s top fossil fuel financier, providing $58 billion to fossil fuel companies in 2025, up 12.6% from 2024. Bank of America ranked second at $47 billion, while Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group placed third, also at $47 billion — a 21% increase in a single year.banktrack

Despite 26 of the 65 banks reducing their fossil fuel financing in 2025, the overall total still rose, driven by large increases among top lenders.yahoo

Climate Groups Sound the Alarm

The report arrives as multiple major banks have withdrawn from net-zero alliances over the past two years. The 2025 edition of the same report had documented a $162.5 billion year-over-year surge in 2024, reversing a downward trend that had lasted from 2021 to 2023.esgdive

“Governments must step in and take urgent” action, BankTrack said in its statement accompanying the report’s release. Stand.earth called the findings evidence that voluntary climate commitments from banks “have failed,” urging policymakers to impose mandatory restrictions on fossil fuel lending.stand