UK bank emissions: Which? says switch to Triodos or Co-operative

8 October 2025

In October 2025 Which? “examined the policies of 16 current account providers in the UK with help from two non-governmental research organisations, Reclaim Finance and Global Canopy”: Are you bankrolling the climate crisis?

The big picture (and the bad news) is that banks are watering down their commitments to sustainability. Some finance fossil fuels through routes that still allow them to talk a good game - tighter regulation and reporting standards might reduce that. The banks are actually financing more fossil fuels than they did in previous years.

So there’s even more reason to switch to a better bank in 2025.

• Which?’s worst banks: Chase, Santander, HSBC, Barclays.
• Their middle of the table banks: Lloyds, NatWest, Danske. Then Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland and TSB are better, and Metro Bank, Virgin Money (now owned by Nationwide), Monzo, Starling.
• Which?’s best banks: Triodos and Co-operative Bank (which is now owned by Coventry Building Society)

The methodology looks solid, though I might have given financed and facilitated emissions a stronger weighting.

If you’re confused by this bit:

“Around 1% of Virgin Money’s loans are to field services that serve the oil and gas industry. Nationwide says it expects its emissions to fall as businesses transition to renewables. This meant it didn’t make the cut. However, the building society confirmed to Which? that its policies, targets, disclosures and overall approach apply to the Nationwide Group as a whole.”

… it means: Nationwide was previously one of Which?’s top choices but it has since bought Virgin Money, which does finance some fossil fuel activity, and hasn’t been re-reviewed yet.

Anyway, if you want to dig a bit deeper into the emissions (which I and Which? know isn’t the full story):

• Triodos 2024 annual report. However: are scope 1-3 emissions really 112.3 tCO2e, per p49? It seems very low compared to the 2023 year (1,402 tCO2e) which doesn’t agree with the +14%) year-on-year they state. Financed emissions reported separately - p47.
• Co-operative Bank Annual and half-year reports, commitment to the planet, approach to environment, social and governance and sustainability report. Emissions are reported in detail on p42.