The 2024 Banking on Climate Chaos report showed that DBS provided US$ 36.823 Billion in financing to the fossil fuel industry between 2016 and 2023. In 2023 only, DBS provided US$ 555 Million for oil, gas and coal companies expanding fossil fuels. Find further details on DBS fossil fuel portfolio and how it compares to other large banks globally on Fossil Banks No Thanks and in the Banking on Climate Chaos report.

Partner organisation Reclaim Finance tracks the coal, oil and gas policies of financial institutions, including banks, in their Coal Policy Tool (CPT) and the Oil and Gas Policy Tracker (OGPT). BankTrack works closely with Reclaim Finance and endorses their policy assessments. Find further details on their assessment of DBS’ fossil fuel policy below.

BankTrack assessed DBS in its 2022 Human Rights Benchmark Asia, where it achieved 3 points out of 14 and was ranked as a 'laggard'. More information is detailed in the "Accountability" section of this profile.

DBS’s policies for forest-risk sectors (beef, soy, palm oil, pulp and paper, rubber and timber) have been assessed by the Forests & Finance coalition, achieving an overall score of 5 out of 10 and ranking it as a front runner. DBS achieved a score of 0 out of 10 specifically for its policies related to the beef sector and 6.2 out of 10 for its policies related to the palm oil sector. In addition, BankTrack and the Environmental Paper Network have assessed DBS’s policies related to the pulp and paper sector.

Between 2016 and 2022, DBS provided USD 4,151 in credit to companies operating in these forest-risk sectors and held investments amounting to USD 105 as of 2022. For more information, see the links below.

DBS is a member of the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) and has therefore committed to reduce its financed emissions to net zero by 2050; within 18 months of joining the alliance set interim targets for 2030 (or sooner) for high emission priority sectors, and within 36 months set further sector targets; set new intermediary targets every 5 years from 2030 onwards; annually publish data on emissions and progress against a transition strategy including climate-related sectoral policies; and take a robust approach to the role of offsets in transition plans. BankTrack track's implementation of these commitments in the NZBA compliance tracker.

BankTrack is keeping track of the public response of DBS to Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine. DBS did not publicly condemn the war. DBS is scaling back with its operations in Russia. We consider its exposure to Russia as limited. For further details, see the table linked below.

As part of the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), DBS is required to set interim targets for 2030 for high emission priority sectors. For DBS, this includes its lending to the steel sector. You can see DBS’s iron and steel decarbonisation targets, and its progress towards meeting them in our NZBA steel targets compliance tracker:

Partner organisation Reclaim Finance’s 2023 report on metallurgical coal financing showed that DBS provided US$ 3.1 billion in loans and underwriting to developers of new metallurgical coal between 2016 and 2022. Find further details on DBS’s metallurgical coal financing and and how it compares to other large banks globally in the report.

Reclaim Finance tracks the metallurgical coal policies of financial institutions, including banks, in their Coal Policy Tool. BankTrack works closely with Reclaim Finance and endorses their policy assessments. Find further details on their assessment of DBS's metallurgical coal policy below.