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New green supremacy and fossil-fuelled money machines

China has taken the lead in the green race! In this month’s MONEY MONEY MONEY, we dive into how it happened.

“China is ahead, not behind,” says one of the country’s leading China experts, Christina Boutrup, who has just published a new book on China and the global green transition.

Want to know which major banks are going green and which are still fossil-fuelled money machines? An updated ranking of banks’ revenues from bond issuance will give you the answer.

We also take a look at a few controversial companies that have either already been or are about to be excluded by Danish pension funds.

Welcome to MONEY MONEY MONEY #3

Chinese President Xi Jinping bows as he is honored at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 10, 2025. He is spearheading China's green strategy of "ecological civilization", enshrined in the constitution. Photo: GREG BAKER / AFP

31. Mar '25

Wakeup call: China’s green supremacy

After the US exit from global climate agreements, China is now the world’s new hope for green leadership. The country with the world’s second largest economy is already a leader in climate technology and has invested more than any other country in the green transition.

“The West should recognize the reality. China is ahead, not behind. Instead of excluding Chinese companies, we should learn from them and possibly collaborate with them,” says one of Denmarks leading China experts, Christina Boutrup.

She is currently working on the book “The Green Superpower: How China Colors Our Future“, which has just been published.

The book states that China is the world leader in 57 out of 64 key technologies. China is already market dominant in several green areas. For example, China currently produces 80 percent of all solar cells and batteries in the world.

“Chinese companies are global leaders in the green transition, partly because they have survived brutal competition in the domestic market. Solar cells and batteries are clear examples – China totally dominates here,” Christina Boutrup tells MONEY MONEY MONEY.

In the green sector, China has ended the era of only copying Western goods, ideas and technologies. Now they are leading in several areas.

Christina Boutrup believes that Western business leaders must dispel the myth that China is just a developing country. China is much more, and its strategic investment in green technology affects the whole world.

“My mission is to shed light on some of the blind spots that exist in relation to developments in China. There is a huge China factor in all global affairs, especially when it comes to the climate,” says Christina Boutrup.

One of the myths Christina Boutrup wants to dispel is that China is building new coal-fired power stations because the country is not really in the process of green transition. But coal-fired power stations are being built alongside massive investments in renewable energy.

At the same time, station capacity is being utilized less and utilization has fallensharply – from 70 percent in 2006 to 53 percent in 2022. And it continues: capacity utilization from coal stations is expected to be just 26% by 2050.

This reveals an important point, says Christina Boutrup:

“Yes, China is still building coal-fired power stations, but that doesn’t mean they are betting on coal in the future. On the contrary – they see them as a backup while they expand renewable energy sources.”

Yes, China is still building coal-fired power stations, but that doesn’t mean they will rely on coal in the future.

Christina Boutrup

China expert and former Asia correspondent for TV2.

While Europe has been discussing sustainable finance for a long time and continues to debate regulation of which companies and how much responsibility they have for the climate crisis, China has made great advances in green finance.

“China’s central bank is among the world leaders in green finance and has been a key driver of climate-friendly investments. The green transition has become a business case in China,” says Christina Boutrup.

China produces more than 80% of all solar cells and batteries in the world
There is huge overcapacity in China. China will produce 4 times the world’s demand for batteries by 2027, putting pressure on prices.
The UN estimates that by 2030, China will account for 45 percent of the world’s total production.
China leads in 57 out of 64 critical technologies, according to Australian think tank ASPI.
China’s utilization of coal-fired power station capacity drops to 26% by 2050

The Green Superpower: How China Colors Our Future will be published on March 31, 2025 and challenges the self-image of Europeans – and Danes – and asks if we can learn anything from the Chinese. Christina Boutrup focuses on the new green superpower and a new, Chinese-dominated, world order that we are all best served by learning to understand.

GLOBAL

Fossil cash machine or green bank

The world’s largest banks are not just money machines. They are also powerful architects of our future, with their enormous financial muscle being the pillars of most everything in the world. Major banks can, if they so choose, determine both the pace of the green transition and the dismantling of the fossil fuel industry.

But which banks are the greenest?

An updated ranking from The Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute (AFII) provides an answer.

The AFII has ranked major global banks on their earnings from green bond issuances compared to their profits from fossil fuel bond issuances.

The ranking shows the banks’ dependency of earnings dependency on fossil fuel financing. The greater the fossil dependency, the worse the ranking and vice versa.

Nordic banks perform well on this indicator of green/black activity compared to other global banks in the ranking.

Danske Bank, SEB, Nordea and Swedbank top the list along with Chinese OCBC (Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation) and Singaporean United Overseas Bank.

All have around 20 percent more earnings on banking services from green bonds compared to fossil fuel bond issues.

This doesn’t mean that Nordic banks don’t make money raising money for fossil fuel companies. It means they make more money helping green companies.

The ranking also illustrates that major banks play a pivotal role in financing the green transition as well as the fossil fuel sector’s climate-damaging expansion plans. Both require large amounts of capital.

The worst banks, i.e. those that earn more from banking services for fossil fuel bond issues compared to green ones, are Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui and Mizuho Financial Group and Indonesia’s Bank Mandiri.

The ranking is an indication of which banks in the bond market are most oriented towards green investments and which continue to service the fossil fuel sector with capital.

CONTROVERSIAL COMPANIES

ConocoPhillips: Industriens Pension in conflict with its own guidelines

The jointly owned pension fund of the Confederation of Danish Industry and the trade union 3F is the only pension fund in Denmark with equity investments in the oil giant ConocoPhillips.

According to the analysis tool Pensionsmaskinen.dk, Industriens Pension has invested DKK 100 million in ConocoPhillips, which is also the world’s 15th most CO2 emitting company.

In the last quarter of 2023, ConocoPhillips acquired a fossil fuel production facility in Canada’s Athabasca region from TotalEnergies.

The plant extracts oil from tar sands, which Industriens Pension’s responsible investment policy prohibits if more than five percent of the owners’ revenue is generated from this type of oil.

The acquisition by ConocoPhillips means that a larger part of its revenue now comes from tar sands, which is considered to be a dirty non-conventional production method with high environmental pollution as a consequence.

Calculations show that the revenue from tar sands is now between 5.6 and 11.2 percent. This means that Industriens Pension’s multi-million investment in ConocoPhillips is in conflict with its own guidelines.

Industriens Pension’s more than 440,000 members should therefore expect the management of Industriens Pension to decide to divest the shares in ConocoPhillips.

Tesla: Supporting controversial politicians and misinformation

In the January issue of MONEY MONEY MONEY we wrote that two large Dutch pension funds, ABP and Bpf Bouw, had both sold Tesla shares for billions of Danish kroner.

The reason for the exclusion was concerns about Tesla’s operations, poor working conditions for employees and, not least, CEO Elon Musk’s exorbitant behavior with misinformation and an unprecedented bonus of up to 400 billion Danish kroner.

It seems that several Danish pension funds have taken notice. In each case, AkademikerPension, PensionDanmark, PenSam and Sampension have now excluded Tesla.

“It’s impossible to talk about Tesla without talking about Elon Musk. He has publicly supported controversial political figures, spread misinformation and criticized governments,” is part of the explanation for AkademikerPension’s decision to get rid of Tesla shares.

Thank you!

Remember, you can always provide feedback, requests for topics or suggestions for news by simply replying to this newsletter. The next issue of MONEY MONEY MONEY will be published on the last banking day of the month – together with your salary.

Best regards

Joachim Kattrup