Julian Wentzel confirmed as permanent HSBC CSO

HSBC has confirmed that Julian Wentzel, who has been acting as interim Chief Sustainability Officer since Celine Herweijer’s departure, will remain in the role permanently.

Herweijer announced that she was stepping down in November after three years spearheading sustainability efforts at the bank. Her decision came shortly after her role was removed from the group’s executive committee.

Wentzel was immediately appointed interim Chief Sustainability Officer – and confirmed on February 7 that he would continue in this position indefinitely, reporting to Chief Financial Officer Pam Kaur.

“Supporting the transition to net zero is a priority for HSBC and for the customers we serve. In my previous roles, I’ve worked at the forefront of supporting our customers – some of whom face the most ambitious and challenging transitions – to finance and deliver against their sustainability ambitions and to identify innovative solutions to enable their progress.

“I am looking forward to leveraging this experience at greater scale as we work with our customers to support them in continuing to advance their transition priorities, and to realise the benefits of a more resilient global economy for our businesses, our shareholders, and the markets we operate in,” he said in a Linkedin post.

HSBC moves towards sustainability execution

Last year, HSBC was advised by its board that it needed to accelerate the execution of its sustainability targets by better defining “core areas of the group’s sustainability execution programme, including accountability, governance, capability, investment in infrastructure and data”.

The bank, which manages over US$662 billion for clients globally, published its first net zero transition plan in January 2024, laying out in 100 pages how it plans to provide US$750 billion to US$1 trillion in sustainable finance and investment by 2030 and become a net zero bank by 2050, including financed emissions.

Banking sector retreats from climate groups

Banks showed great drive to tackle the climate crisis around the time of COP26, when new initiatives like the Net Zero Banking Alliance and Net Zero Asset Owners Alliance were created. 

But three years later, all the top US and Canadian financial institutions have left these climate groups, and several banks appear to be moving sustainability down their list of priorities. For example, HSBC demoted its CSO, Barclays also lost its Global Head of Sustainability Laura Barlow (with no plans to replace her), and BNP Paribas announced that it would adjust its ESG investment policy to focus on profitable deals.

HSBC remains part of the Net Zero Banking Alliance.