Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced the addition of
banking
giant HSBC to his list of firms deemed to be “boycotting”
energy
companies and therefore subject to divestment of state funds.
Hegar said the bank’s
updated policy
restricting financing of oil and natural gas was cause for its addition to the list, which brings Texas’s blacklist to a total of 11 global financial firms, including investment giant BlackRock.
COAL AND GAS COMPETE FOR SHARE OF THE GRID
“HSBC’s new energy policy is a prime example of a broader movement in the financial sector to push a social agenda and prioritize political goals over the economic health of their clients. HSBC’s policy clearly makes the firm a suitable candidate for listing under Texas law,” Hegar said in a statement Monday.
HSBC
announced
in December that it will no longer finance new oil and gas ventures because of climate change. The bank and many of its peers have adopted similar policies in recent years to either limit or phase out investments in fossil fuel ventures, or otherwise to preference investments in renewable energy sources.
Republican-led states have taken issue with such policies, characterizing them as a “boycott” of traditional energy sources, and sought to punish banks and fund managers for implementing ESG-related measures in the name of climate change mitigation.
Texas law includes investment prohibitions and divestment requirements for state funds entrusted to firms on Hegar’s list. The state is the predominant producer of oil and gas in the U.S.
Some of the firms targeted by red states, including BlackRock,
continue to finance new oil and gas ventures
and have disputed Republicans’ characterizations of their policies.
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Proponents of policies such as HSBCs argue the banking sector must limit new fossil fuel financing in order to constrain greenhouse gas emissions and keep global warming in check.
