Green-debt fees hit nearly $3 billion, topping fossil fuels for fifth year

For a fifth straight year, the world’s biggest banks are making more money arranging bonds and loans for environmentally friendly projects than for fossil-fuel companies.

Lenders have generated roughly $3 billion of revenue so far this year from climate-related financing, exceeding the $2.9 billion from debt deals for oil, gas and coal producers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. While the gap is narrowing, the revenue split marks a sharp reversal from 2020, when banks pocketed almost double the fees from fossil-fuel companies than they did backing green initiatives.

Since the start of the year, Bank of China Ltd., BNP Paribas SA and Deutsche Bank AG earned the highest fees from underwriting green bonds, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Credit Agricole SA and Societe Generale SA banked the most revenue from arranging green loans, Bloomberg data show.


As for fossil-fuel bond and loan transactions, US banks were the top dealmakers, led by Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc.

BloombergNEF recently published a report showing that the ratio of spending on low-carbon infrastructure relative to fossil fuels rose to 0.97 in 2025 from 0.95 the prior year.

The so-called energy supply banking ratio is climbing, but “progress remains gradual and significantly short of the rate necessary to reach climate goals,” the analysts said. BNEF says the ratio needs to reach 4 to 1 by 2030 to limit climate change.

The numbers vary by region: China’s ESBR jumped to 1.6 to 1, lifted by an increase in grid debt issuance, while Europe’s ratio rose to 2.5 to 1 on the back of offshore wind project finance. By contrast, North America’s ratio fell to 0.5 to 1 amid higher financing for oil, gas and coal.