Post by Nancy Dhaduk

Four weeks of research and one question still standing. Is Deutsche Bank's climate strategy credible or is it a sophisticated framework sitting on top of a business model that has not fundamentally changed?   Earlier in this blog we saw DB's financed emissions within covered sectors fall 5% in 2024. Real progress. A different dataset, however, tells another part of the story. The Banking on Climate Chaos 2026 report, published this month adds a complication. While emissions intensity fell, the bank's fossil fuel financing rose 20% in 2025. BNP Paribas cut theirs by 28%. UBS by 36%. Most European peers moved one way. Deutsche Bank moved the other.   This matters because Deutsche Bank's Investment Bank is one of its most profitable divisions. Many of the clients Deutsche Bank is expected to transition are also among its most valuable commercial relationships. Divisional Carbon Budgets and executive pay linked to net zero are meaningful steps. But when the revenue model rewards relationships with high carbon clients, the incentive to maintain financing flexibility is always present.   This does not make DB's strategy insincere. But it does mean the framework needs to be evaluated against what the numbers actually show not just what the transition plan says. For now, the numbers still lag the narrative. Source: https://lnkd.in/dQZ-Vus8 https://lnkd.in/dSzaqGG7 https://lnkd.in/dStNdca3 #QUBMScBlogger #ClimateRisk #GreenBanking #NetZeroFinance #DeutscheBank #Greenwashing #Eurozone #QBSMScBlogger