FORM 6-K
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Report of Foreign Private Issuer
Pursuant to Rule 13a - 16 or 15d - 16 of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
For the
month of March
HSBC Holdings plc
42nd
Floor, 8 Canada Square, London E14 5HQ, England
(Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual
reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F).
Form
20-F X Form 40-F
(Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information
contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information
to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934).
Yes
No X
(If
"Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the
registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82-
).
HSBC ANNOUNCES
RESOLUTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE
HSBC Holdings plc ('HSBC') today announces it will propose a
special resolution on climate change at the Annual General Meeting
('AGM') on 28 May 2021. The resolution will set out the next phase
of HSBC's strategy to support its customers on the transition to
net zero carbon emissions.
HSBC's resolution will be the sole resolution on climate change at
this year's AGM. HSBC is pleased that ShareAction and a number of
shareholders who had originally proposed a separate shareholder
resolution on climate change, have agreed to withdraw this and
support HSBC's resolution, following constructive and positive
discussions based on a common goal of helping to build a net zero
global economy.
In October 2020, HSBC set out its ambition to reduce emissions in
its operations and supply chain to net zero by 2030, and to align
the bank's financed emissions at a portfolio level to net zero by
2050 or sooner.
The HSBC resolution outlines the next phase of the bank's net zero
strategy, with a particular emphasis on how it will support its
customers on their own transition journeys. The bank expects to
provide between US$750bn and US$1trn in financing and investment to
support its customers to progressively decarbonise and help realise
the opportunity for long-term, sustainable growth.
The resolution and supporting statement will set out the detail of
HSBC's plan to pursue its ambition.
It commits to:
1. Set a clear, science-based
strategy with short and medium term targets to align HSBC's
provision of finance1 to
the Paris Agreement goals2:
"This…
would see HSBC work with customers in all sectors to support their
transition. …
We intend to perform this analysis by industry sector, beginning in
2021 with Oil & Gas and Power & Utilities, and extending to
other sectors in 2022 (for example Automotive, Building Materials,
Construction). We believe this approach will allow us to identify
opportunities for constructive engagement with customers, while
also helping to ensure progress on aligning our financing
activities at a sector and portfolio level with the goals of the
Paris Agreement.
We intend to
set clear, measurable short and medium term targets on a sector by
sector basis that are consistent with net zero outcomes by 2050. In
relation to short and medium term, we expect this to mean targets
for the next five to ten years. We plan to use science-based
scenarios that follow 1.5 degrees Celsius warming pathways, and
which are not overly reliant on negative emissions technologies, to
assess alignment of our financing activities. We
plan to provide further detail on this approach by the end of 2021,
starting with the Oil & Gas and Power & Utilities sectors,
and including methodology, scenarios, treatment of negative
emissions and core assumptions used."
2. Publish and implement a policy
to phase out the financing1 of
coal-fired power and thermal coal mining by 2030 in markets in the
European Union / Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development, and by 2040 in other markets:
"Our current policies prohibit financing by HSBC of new coal-fired
power plant projects and new thermal coal mines or new customers
dependent on thermal coal mining. However, although thermal coal is
currently used widely as a source of power generation in many
markets, we recognise that the expansion of coal-fired power is
incompatible with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Reliance on
coal-fired power will need to reduce rapidly in order to achieve
net zero aims. Failure to do so will heighten risks posed by
climate change to society, as well as transition risk for HSBC's
own business. We also appreciate that emerging markets, in which we
have a strong presence, are significantly more reliant on coal as a
source of energy and will need more time to
transition.
We are therefore committing to publish by the end of 2021 a policy
that will phase out financing of coal-fired power and thermal coal
mining in the European Union and Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development markets by 2030, and in all other
markets by 2040. The policy will provide further detail on the
phase out plan, its scope and interim targets; we will engage with
ShareAction, representatives of the group of co-filing institutions
and other stakeholders in the development of this policy…
During this process, we will work with our customers to help them
develop their individual decarbonisation plans aligned to the Paris
Agreement goals."
3. Report
on progress against that strategy and policy on an annual basis,
starting with the 2021 Annual Report and Accounts:
"We will report progress on our net zero aligned finance strategy
and on reducing our exposures to coal-fired power and thermal coal
mining on an annual basis, starting with the 2021 Annual Report and
Accounts which is to be published in February 2022. We plan to use
our 2020 Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
as our baseline for this disclosure."
HSBC believes its approach sets a leading standard for the
financial services sector as it collectively works to tackle
climate change, and, crucially, recognises the importance of
working in partnership with customers on their
transition.
Noel Quinn, Group Chief Executive said:
"We are delighted to be setting out the next phase of our net zero
strategy in this resolution, and invite our shareholders to support
us on this journey. We are pleased that ShareAction and a group of
shareholders have agreed to support the resolution and would like
to thank them for their positive ongoing engagement and
constructive challenge and input as we have shaped the detail of
our plans to support the direct financing requirements of our
corporate clients in the low carbon transition. This represents an
unprecedented level of co-operation between a bank, shareholders,
and NGOs on a critical issue, with a positive outcome for
all."
The resolution and supporting statement will be published in the
forthcoming AGM Notice of Meeting on 24 March.
Footnotes:
1 'Finance'
and 'financing' means providing project finance or
direct lending to, or underwriting capital markets
transactions for, corporate clients of our Global Banking and
Commercial Banking businesses.
2
As set out by Article 2.1(a) and Article 4.1 of the Paris
Agreement:
https://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/convention/application/pdf/english_paris_agreement.pdf
For and on behalf of
HSBC Holdings plc
Aileen Taylor
Group Company Secretary and Chief Governance Officer
Media enquiries to:
Investor enquiries to:
Forward-looking statements
This announcement contains both historical and forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use
of terms such as 'believes,' 'expects,' 'estimate,' 'may,'
'intends,' 'plan,' 'will,' 'should,' 'potential,' 'reasonably
possible' or 'anticipates' or the negative thereof or similar
expressions, or by discussions of strategy. A number of factors
could cause actual results to differ, in some instances materially,
from those anticipated or implied in any forward-looking statement.
These include factors relating to the efficacy of government,
customer, and HSBC's actions in managing and mitigating climate
change and in supporting the global transition to net zero carbon
emissions, which may cause both idiosyncratic and systemic risks
resulting in potential financial and non-financial impacts; and
changes in our ability to develop sustainable finance products and
our capacity to measure the climate impact from our financing
activity, which may affect our ability to achieve our climate
ambition. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise
any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise. In light of these risks,
uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed
herein might not occur. You are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of
their dates. Additional information, including information on
factors which may affect HSBC's business, is contained in our
Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2020,
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on 24 February
2021.
Note to editors:
HSBC Holdings plc
HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of HSBC, is headquartered in
London. HSBC serves customers worldwide from offices in 64
countries and territories in its geographical regions: Europe,
Asia, North America, Latin America, and Middle East and North
Africa. With assets of US$2,984bn at 31 December 2020, HSBC is
one of the world's largest banking and financial services
organisations.
ends/all
SIGNATURE
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf
by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
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HSBC
Holdings plc
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By:
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Name:
Aileen Taylor
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Title:
Group Company Secretary and Chief Governance Officer
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Date:
11 March 2021
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