Withdrawing funding from the climate chaos
The ‘Banking on Climate Chaos 2023’ report, published in April 2023, is the most comprehensive analysis of the banking sector in the context of fossil fuels to date. The fourteenth annual edition analysed the financing and policies of the world’s 60 largest fossil fuel banks.
The results are once again alarming. According to the report, the financing of fossil fuels by these banks has reached almost USD 5.5 trillion in the seven years since the Paris Agreement was signed, with USD 668 billion in 2022 alone. When it comes to climate protection, it is not promises or declarations of intent that count, but concrete financial flows. The report reveals where the investments are actually going.
This year, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) was identified as being on par with JP Morgan Chase, which has been the leading financier of fossil fuels every year since the Paris Agreement.
Over its fourteen-year history, the BOCC report has become the primary source of information on fossil fuel project finance and related human rights abuses by the world’s largest banks. The financial sector seems to have taken notice. Just a few months after the report was published in August, the Royal Bank of Canada, a leading global financier of fossil fuels, announced the appointment of a climate change officer to coordinate, harmonise and drive forward the company’s climate-related activities.
As the IPCC points out in its March 2023 report, the window of opportunity to limit global warming to below 1.5°C and ensure a safe, liveable and sustainable future is rapidly closing.
If humanity is to preserve the opportunity to avert catastrophic harm to millions of people today and countless future generations, the expansion of fossil fuels must be halted. While companies flood the world with oil, gas and coal, the big banks are literally supplying the matches. Without financial support, the fossil fuel fire cannot be lit.
You can read the report at www.bankingonclimatechaos.org
This blog and report was originally published by ran.org
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