Lawrence White and Sinead Cruise

HSBC Chairman Mark Tucker said on Friday that LONDON (Reuters) - Global trade relations have increased economic uncertainty and faced serious growth risks, making it difficult for international banks to effectively provide medium-term outlook.

Tucker said in a speech at the bank's annual shareholders' meeting in London the day after announcing that he would retire before the end of the year that he said he was confident that HSBC could achieve its goals and provide another year of healthy returns in 2025.

HSBC is one of the major European banks, and will secure performance targets this week on the bumper’s last quarter, despite potential global recession and shaky business confidence.

Asia and trade-focused HSBC may be more affected by the sweeping U.S. tariffs than some competitors, as they could undermine global trade and hurt exporters and importers in China and Asia.

The bank also said it remains committed to its ambition to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050 to 2050 and has begun a review of temporary funded emission targets and related policies.

HSBC (HSBC) dropped its goal of reaching its business by 2030 earlier this year, which has slowed economic changes.

Some campaigners protested at Friday's event, distributing leaflets and challenging the bank's board to review support for fossil fuel producers and projects including East Africa's crude oil pipeline.

Climate activists are concerned that banks like HSBC could be subject to a shift in political rhetoric around sustainability and climate affairs.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he intends to reduce U.S. climate commitments, which he said could hinder business opportunities for multinational corporations, especially those active in developing economies.

HSBC also faces severe criticism from members of the Midland Bank workplace pension scheme acquired by HSBC in 1992, which repeatedly canceled revocations that cut spending millions of pounds on former employees.

When a member reaches the age of equally entitled to state pensions, the pension provided by the employer is deducted from the legal deduction of the pensions provided by the employer.

In recent years, shareholders of the bank have overwhelmingly voted against the campaigners’ resolutions on the issue, but Tucker said he would scrutinize members’ plight more fully.

"I'm not giving you a sense of hope, but we'll go back and see what we say and what we understand is still the case," he told campaigner Nancy Ball.