DBS Group is a leading Asian financial services group offering corporate, retail and institutional banking across Singapore and wider regional markets.
Reason for engagement
We recognise the influence that banks have on climate outcomes through their lending and capital allocation decisions. Our engagement with DBS Group looked at how its financing approach aligns with global climate goals, with a particular focus on its coal, oil and gas expansion policies as assessed by Reclaim Finance. Considering the company as both a holding and a counterparty, we aimed to understand how DBS Group’s transition planning and financing activities support decarbonisation across Asian markets.
What we did
Building on previous correspondence in 2024, where we sought clarity on the bank’s approach to fossil-fuel expansion and related exclusions, we reached out again in 2025 to share our climate assessment and request a discussion. We then met representatives from DBS Group’s climate and institutional banking teams to explore the bank’s climate-alignment framework, and continued the dialogue through follow-up exchanges.
Outcomes
In our discussions with DBS Group, the bank provided a clear explanation of how its climate-alignment framework guides financing decisions across sectors. Its representatives noted that it follows a single global net-zero pathway to shape expectations for clients and to ensure consistency across its lending activities. They also outlined how these pathways sit behind credit decisions, client engagement and the development of lending structures intended to support lower-carbon technologies.
The representatives described how the bank uses this framework in sectors such as steel, shipping and aviation, where progress remains uneven and where changes in technology, regulation and market conditions affect the pace at which clients can progress. We also discussed the bank’s transition-support programmes for smaller companies, designed to help small and medium enterprises adopt lower-carbon solutions and begin shifting their business models.
We additionally explored how DBS Group applies its policies to companies involved in fossil-fuel expansion, and the bank clarified the scope of its current exclusions and how risk assessments influence lending terms across different parts of the energy sector. DBS Group reiterated that its exposure to thermal coal is already low and restated its intention to reach zero exposure by 2039, with timing dependent on wider financing conditions and practical opportunities to support early retirement of assets.
While the discussion improved transparency on how DBS Group interprets its climate framework, it did not reveal significant signs of improvement in the bank’s approach to fossil-fuel expansion (specifically oil and gas). The exchange nonetheless offered a clearer understanding of the constraints the bank faces and how regional market conditions shape its decisions, providing a more informed picture of its current direction.