PARIS (AFP) – Big banks proceed to pour lots of of billions of {dollars} into fossil gas extraction, contradicting their pledges to chop the carbon emissions driving lethal local weather change, a report stated on Friday (March 25).
The evaluation by London-based think-tank InfluenceMap discovered the world’s 30 largest listed finance teams supplied US$740 billion (S$1 trillion) to fossil gas producers in 2020 and 2021, and held billions extra in investments.
It stated the most important suppliers of fossil gas financing had been JP Morgan with US$81 billion, Citigroup with US$69 billion, and Bank of America with US$55 billion.
“There is a stark disconnect between what they say about climate change and what they are actually doing,” stated the report’s creator Eden Coates.
The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says international carbon dioxide emissions should attain internet zero by 2050 if international warming is to be restricted to 1.5 deg C to curb disastrous impacts.
The International Energy Agency in 2021 revealed a street map exhibiting that to make the vitality change to satisfy this goal, there have to be no funding in new fossil gas provide initiatives.
All however one of many 30 banks surveyed have dedicated to reaching internet zero by 2050.
The report discovered that the businesses had been additionally members of teams that foyer to weaken inexperienced finance insurance policies.
Campaigners see such findings as proof of “greenwashing” – firms trumpeting local weather pledges whereas taking motion that undermines these objectives.
They say shareholders should press firms to scale back the harm from local weather change.
“Any bank making a net-zero promise while actively lobbying against necessary climate regulation – such as mandatory disclosure of borrowers’ emissions and climate action plans – is greenwashing,” Mr Christopher Hohn, a billionaire fund supervisor often called an “activist investor”, stated in an announcement responding to the report.
“Shareholders should vote against the directors of banks who are hiding their exposure to climate risk.”
InfluenceMap assessed local weather insurance policies and actions within the banks’ company statements and used information and science-based benchmarks to measure their implementation.
It stated the businesses got the possibility to assessment and reply to the evaluation.
The post Big banks break pledges by pouring over a trillion into fossil fuels: Report first appeared on Umorr.
