How has the climate crisis affected banks reputationally?

alva’s latest analysis reveals the impact of the climate crisis on the reputations of banks

alva has analysed 80,000+ news sources, 3m+ blogs and forums, and 100+ social networks to gain insights on how the climate crisis has affected the reputations of seven leading banks.

Key findings of the report are:

• The UK banking sector shows a wide variance in sentiment performance – Santander ranks first, while HSBC was most impacted by climate protests from activist groups such as Extinction Rebellion, leading it to perform the worst in the sector.
• The most common recurring themes were ‘sustainable investing’ and ‘Carbon offsets’ – the latter gaining negative aggregate sentiment in the UK media. The average article frames offsets as a money making tool for banks and is sceptical of its voluntary nature.
• The most positive issue driving sentiment is partnerships between banks, such as the agreement reached at COP26 to establish the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ). Under the provisions of GFANZ, banks have signalled their intention to reduce the carbon intensity of their loan portfolios.

Download the full report here.