World’s Biggest Banks Signed a ‘Net Zero’ Pledge—LOL

The world’s strongest banks have funded fossil gasoline initiatives to the tune of $4.6 trillion within the six years for the reason that Paris Agreement, a brand new report from a bunch of NGOs finds. 1 / 4 of that funding comes from simply 4 U.S. banks—JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America—all of which have signed onto a world initiative of banks dedicated to reaching a “net zero” goal.

“Fossil fuel companies wouldn’t be able to do what they do without funding from big banks—these banks provide companies with the capital they need to build and maintain enormous, pricey fossil fuel infrastructure,” Alison Kirsch, the Research and Policy Manager on the Rainforest Action Network and one of many authors of the brand new Banking on Climate Chaos report, advised Earther in an e-mail.

In order to dig into the big-name cash behind world fossil gasoline initiatives, the report appears at financing from the world’s 60 largest banks. Most of the information within the report, Kirsch defined, is sourced from Bloomberg’s monetary software program, with some added from IJGlobal, a undertaking and infrastructure finance database.

“We also adjust down the figures based on the fossil fuel intensity of a given company—so, for instance, a loan to a company whose entire business is dedicated to fossil fuel production is treated differently than a loan to a more diversified company that is also active in other sectors,” Kirsch stated.

The outcomes are staggering. The 60 banks footed $742 billion in financing for fossil gasoline initiatives final yr alone. This quantity features a 51% improve in funding for tar sands initiatives, a very soiled type of oil; $52.9 billion for offshore initiatives final yr, with Citi and JPMorgan Chase main these investments; and $8.2 billion in funding for Arctic oil initiatives—which JPMorgan was a lead funder for, regardless of promising in 2020 to cease funding initiatives within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (The report explains that whereas many banks have some kind of coverage prohibiting funding some types of Arctic extraction, these insurance policies are sometimes restricted and don’t cowl the whole lot of the area, permitting for some funding loopholes.)

What makes these numbers particularly troublesome is that a lot of the funding comes from establishments which have generated a variety of press and goodwill over their claims that they’re serving to to finish the local weather disaster. In April 2021, greater than 100 of the world’s main banks obtained collectively to kind the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, which includes high-profile U.S. members like Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citi, and Bank of America. However, because the report finds, many of those banks made investments shortly after becoming a member of the Alliance that ran counter to their new guarantees: JPMorgan Chase invested $10 billion in Saudi Aramco only a month after becoming a member of, whereas Citi, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley gave $10 billion to ExxonMobil just a few months later.

“Banks largely like to say that they are supporting their clients in the transition to a low-carbon economy,” Kirsch stated. “However, if that support doesn’t have teeth—requirements around ending fossil fuel expansion that companies must meet in order to continue receiving financing—then we are just going to see more business as usual.”

In current years, the significance of ending financing for soiled initiatives has grown in prominence: Agroup of nations, led by the U.S. and the UK, agreed final yr on the UN local weather convention to finish funding for fossil gasoline initiatives overseas. But if huge banks preserve masking up their continued funding of planet-destroying power with greenwashing targets and false guarantees, the trade is simply going to continue to grow.

“Funding fossil fuels is the biggest way banks contribute to the climate crisis, alongside their funding of deforestation,” Kirsch stated. “Banks need to be held accountable for the unique role they are playing in fueling climate chaos via their support for fossil fuel companies whose fossil fuel expansion plans will cook us all.”

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