ING Bank ends financing, credit to new coal plants

Dutch bank ING decided to stop financing new coal plants with immediate effect. The bank will also no longer provide credit to new clients in the energy industry that rely on coal more than 50 percent.

ING CEO Ralph Hamers announced this on Friday, Reuters reports. According to the CEO, climate change is an "unprecedented problem" and banks share the responsibility of addressing it.

The bank is one of the parties participating in the climate summit in Paris next week. The goal for the summit is to reach binding agreements on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a large part of which comes from the use of fossil fuels.

On Thursday a majority in the Tweede Kamer, lower house of parliament, voted that all coal plants must systematically be closed.