ING’s head of business ethics, Arnaud Stuart Cohen, said the demands put forward are “unrealistic and unreasonable”.

An environmental non-profit has filed a lawsuit against ING Groep, alleging that the biggest bank in the Netherlands has failed to conduct its business in a way that adequately takes climate change into account.

“ING has a huge impact on the climate and must take responsibility for it,” according to the text of the suit sent to ING on Friday. “ING must clearly report all emissions for which the company is responsible, but must also halve those emissions.”

A spokesperson for the Dutch bank confirmed receipt of the filing. 

The suit, brought by the Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth, known as Milieudefensie, follows a similar case in France against BNP Paribas. Both banks have stepped up their restrictions on financing fossil fuels in recent years, and are some of the most active in the provision of sustainable finance.

The non-profit warned last year that it was planning to file the suit, and ING has long been aware the case was coming. In an interview on Thursday, ING’s head of business ethics, Arnaud Stuart Cohen, said the demands put forward by Milieudefensie are “unrealistic and unreasonable”. 

ING takes climate “very seriously”, he said. 

In its suit filed on Friday, Milieudefensie made the following demands:

• That ING halve its total emissions in 2030 versus 2019, and continue reducing emissions in the years thereafter in line with science.
• That ING reduce its emissions in all polluting sectors that the bank finances, including steel and cement.
• That ING stop financing companies that are developing new oil and gas projects.
• That ING ask all large companies that it finances to provide a credible climate plan.

ING has said that while it’s unrealistic to entirely stop financing fossil fuel companies, the bank is tackling the most carbon-heavy parts of its portfolio. It no longer provides dedicated finance for new oil and gas fields, and its financing of coal-powered power plants is expected to drop to near-zero by year-end.

Earlier this week, ING had its climate targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative, making it the only global systemically important bank to receive the certification.

“It’s a confirmation that we are on the right track to address climate change,” said Cohen.

Read more about how banks are tackling changing attitudes towards sustainability:

• UOB, one of eight TNFD adopters in S’pore, identities nature-related risks in 2024 sustainability report (March)
• DBS updates transition finance framework, remains ‘committed’ to climate action amid backtracking among banks (March)
• Singapore’s three banks to remain in climate alliance despite US peers’ exit (January)
• Net-Zero Banking Alliance to explore next steps after member defections (January)