Nordea was responsible for the largest loans to fossil fuel companies operating in the Arctic, totalling SEK 7.4 billion (about $705 million). SEB lent SEK 6.5 billion (about $620 million) to the same type of company.
"It is very remarkable, and the further we get into the climate crisis, the more absurd it becomes that banks support this kind of highly climate-damaging activity. The expansion is undermining our ability to reach our climate goals. It is a betrayal of customers," says Jakob König, founder and project manager of the Fair Finance Guide, which reviews the banks' sustainability work.
Nordea strongly disagrees with this description, saying that the bank has very little lending to the gas and oil industry, amounting to EUR 3 million at the end of 2025:
"Since 2019, we have reduced our outstanding lending to oil and gas extraction by over 99 percent," the bank writes in a comment.
Handelsbanken and Swedbank, however, have not lent any money to fossil fuel companies in the Arctic.
Threatens wildlife and Sami rights
According to the report, oil expansion threatens sensitive wildlife and risks violating the rights of the Sami people, as the infrastructure and the risk of oil spills affect reindeer herding and fishing.
The lending also conflicts with the European Commission's position on an international ban on new oil extraction in the Arctic.
"Single companies"
SEB welcomes the scrutiny of its lending but disagrees with the Fair Finance Guide's definitions and calculations. In a response to TT, the bank says only a few companies remain on its lending list.
"These companies continue to play an important role in Europe's energy security at a time when Europe needs to become independent of Russian oil and gas, while transport through the Strait of Hormuz has been halted," says Karl-Oskar Olming, head of sustainability at SEB, in a written comment.
Corrected version: Quotation marks in the third paragraph of the body text removed.
The report Banking on Thin Ice examines banks' fossil fuel financing in 2024–2025. It was produced by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation and Fair Finance Guide, together with Nordic partner organizations, including the Finnish Sami Central Association.
Banking on Thin Ice 4 is part of a series of reports. The banks were given the opportunity to check all the facts beforehand.
Source: Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, Fair Finance Guide.
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