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JP Morgan Chase, Citi and Bank of America are the biggest commercial bank lenders to the coal industry, according to a new report compiled by four leading non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The research looked into the top 93 leading banks and the extent of their support for 31 large coal-mining firms, which represent 44 per cent of global coal production.

The study identified what it calls the top 20 'climate killers' from the banking industry, which included banks from Britain, Germany, China, Italy, North America, France, Switzerland and Japan. Other banks in the top 20 include HSBC, Barclays, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs.

The total value of coal financing provided by the banks in the past six years amounts to Eu232 billion.

The researchers say they focused on coal financing because coal-reliant power plants are the biggest man-made contributor of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide.

Heffa Schuecking, an environmentalist at Urgewald, one of the NGOs responsible for the study, said: 'In spite of the fact that climate change is already having severe impacts on the most vulnerable societies, there is an abundance of plans to build new coal-fired power plants. If banks provide money for these projects, they will wreck all attempts to limit global warming to 2°C.'

Yann Louvel, climate and energy coordinator at BankTrack, said: 'Interestingly, almost all of the top twenty climate killer banks in our ranking have made far-reaching statements regarding their commitment to combating climate change. However, the numbers show that their money is not where their mouth is.'

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