The world’s largest fossil fuel companies are withdrawing from, or significantly scaling back, green investments undertaken in recent years. A noticeable trend has also emerged of divestment from so-called green financial instruments, including bonds and banking alliances.
Recently, the portal oilprice.com compiled a list of actions by major European fossil fuel corporations indicating a retreat from previously adopted climate goals.
Equinor
In February 2025, Norwegian company Equinor ASA withdrew from its commitment to allocate at least 50 percent of its capital expenditures to renewable energy sources and so-called low-emission solutions.
Equinor also abandoned its investment plans in offshore wind energy projects in Vietnam, as well as the construction of a hydrogen pipeline from Norway to Germany, which was intended to transport up to 10 GW of hydrogen annually.
Shell
Shell has likewise withdrawn from new offshore wind turbine projects, citing concerns over profitability. The energy giant also retreated—similar to Equinor—from hydrogen-related investments in Norway. The stated reason, once again, was a lack of demand.
BP
In February 2025, oil major BP also undertook a reset of its green strategy, shifting its focus toward increased fossil fuel extraction. The company’s CEO, Murray Auchincloss, stated that “the optimism regarding the pace of green transformation was unwarranted.”
BP cut its green investment fund by $5 billion while simultaneously increasing its oil and gas investment budget by $10 billion annually.
Exit from Green Bonds
The X profile “Informacje Giełdowe,” citing Bloomberg, reported today that financial giant JP Morgan & Chase “is prepared to write off its green bonds as losses.”
“The issuance of green bonds in the U.S. dropped 89 percent year-over-year—and only because clients were unable to exit them,” the post stated.
At the turn of the year, the U.S. saw a wave of major financial institutions exiting the green banking alliance—Net-Zero Banking Alliance.
Among the institutions withdrawing from the green banking coalition were Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, BlackRock, and Morgan Stanley. The media described this phenomenon as the “Trump effect.”