About $906 billion was committed by the 65 largest banks in the world for fossil fuel financing, 8% or $64 billion higher than in 2024, according to an annual study by a group of environmental organizations.
According to the 17th edition of the Banking on Climate Chaos report, while 26 banks slashed their fossil fuel financing last year, the remaining nearly two-thirds of the world's largest 65 banks "continue to fuel a fragile and unstable fossil energy system."
"The fact that overall financing rose despite more than a third of major banks pulling back shows how concentrated the problem has become: a small group of banks is now driving the global trajectory," the report said.
Last year, about $508 billion was committed by these institutions to companies engaged in expanding fossil fuel development, $108 billion, or 27%, more than the corresponding figure in 2024, the report said.
Only 12 banks accounted for nearly 39% of all bank fossil deals in 2025, while about 2,000 global banks outside the top 65 accounted for only 26% of such financing.
JPMorgan Chase was the top fossil fuel financier for 2025, committing $58.2 billion during the year, up 12.5% from 2024. The bank has accounted for 4.3% of total bank fossil fuel financing since 2021, followed by MUFG 3.7% and Citigroup 3.6%.
A small group of major banks is concentrating more of its fossil fuel financing on a limited number of companies, with 10 firms securing $718 billion, or nearly 13% of total fossil fuel funding since 2021. Venture Global (VG), Enbridge (ENB), and Energy Transfer (ET) alone secured $77 billion, or 6.3% of global bank fossil fuel financing in 2025, the study said.
"The growing concentration among both dealmakers (banks) and dealmakers (fossil firms) hands a shrinking group of highly indebted firms outsized control over fossil supply, pricing, and infrastructure decisions," the report said.
"The result is a more brittle energy system because the supply and pricing decisions of an ever smaller group of companies show up directly in higher and more volatile energy costs for the households that can least absorb them."
The six major financial centers, the US, Canada, Japan, China, the UK, and the European Union, were responsible for a majority of the global bank fossil fuel financing flows, accounting for around 87% of the total fossil financing across the 2,000 banks globally.
"Notable progress among European banks and some Canadian banks in 2025 was offset by regression in the US, whose banks now account for over 32% of bank fossil fuel financing worldwide," the study added.