Dutch banking group ING will no longer finance new oil and gas projects, ING energy director Michiel de Haan told Reuters on Wednesday.

ING thus becomes one of the world’s largest banks to decide to stop financing oil and gas projects and increases pressure on other banks to respond to last year’s call by the International Energy Agency (IEA) to stop funding for new fossil fuel projects, in the idea of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Michiel de Haan told Reuters that ING will no longer fund oil and gas projects approved after December 31, 2021, but will continue to fund energy companies. De Haan said that ING has already begun to reduce its funding for the oil and gas industry, while at the same time increasing lending for renewable energy.

“Decarbonising the energy system is of paramount importance, but so is affordable energy and security of energy supply. We may decide to stop being involved in new projects, but we will continue our current involvement in global oil and gas because we need to to achieve the last two goals,” said Michiel de Haan, according to Agerpres.

The ING director said that the Dutch group will aim for a 50% increase in funding for renewable energies by 2025, after a solid increase in 2021, when funding for the renewables sector increased by 26% to 7.3 billion euro. In contrast, ING plans to reduce funding for current oil and gas customers are much more modest, with a target of a 12% reduction to 3.5 billion euro in 2025.

“It’s important to acknowledge that the IEA has stressed that oil and gas will be needed in the future,” said Michiel de Haan, adding that the bank will help its customers decarbonise their business.