Study Reveals Significant Gaps in Climate and Biodiversity Protections Among Major Pakistani Banks
A new comparative study by Fair Finance Pakistan reveals that seven major commercial banks in Pakistan are failing to meet adequate climate and biodiversity protection standards. On average, the evaluated banks scored only 1.12 out of 10 for climate policies and 1.69 for biodiversity protections, highlighting a massive discrepancy between public sustainability commitments and actual lending safeguards. The report highlights a critical imbalance in insurance coverage: while banks maintain a 75.4% average insurance coverage for their own operations, this drops to just 23.1% for the companies and projects they finance. This lack of oversight poses risks to Pakistan's national climate agenda (NDC 3.0) and international biodiversity commitments. While Standard Chartered Pakistan led the group with a score of 5.31, no bank reached even 42% of the maximum possible total score. The findings come as the State Bank of Pakistan's climate risk framework requires banks to have board-approved implementation plans by September 2026.
Topics: Banking Biodiversity Climate Policy Pakistan Finance Sustainability Assessment
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Part of the story Major Pakistani Banks Score Low on Climate and Biodiversity Financing Safeguards (3 articles)