A new report by a coalition of environmental groups has found that a major Canadian bank was the world’s largest financier of fossil fuels last year, as it contributed $42.1bn to such companies.
The Banking on Climate Chaos report (PDF) that was released on Thursday found that the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) had surpassed United States-based JP Morgan Chase for the first time since 2019.
One of Canada’s so-called “Big 5” banks, RBC has contributed $254bn to fossil fuel companies since the Paris Agreement, the global climate accord that came into force in 2016.
“JPMorgan Chase retains its overall ranking for worst fossil fuel bank since 2016, having committed $434 billion since the year the Paris Agreement went into effect,” said the report authored by the Rainforest Action Network, the Sierra Club, and other environmental organisations.
Over the years, climate activists have, as a way to address the climate crisis, called on major financial institutions around the world to divest from fossil fuel companies.
However, the new report has been rebuffed by the RBC saying its authors “do not validate their figures or findings with us and we can’t confirm their conclusions”, adding that the report does not measure progress in meeting its climate goals.
The bank also said it was confident in its ongoing engagement with its clients and its climate strategy which includes “setting initial interim emissions reduction targets for lending in 3 key sectors which inform our lending decisions”, among other steps.
Meanwhile, Keith Stewart, a senior energy strategist for Greenpeace Canada, has said in a statement that the findings showed that “we can no longer simply trust bankers to do the right thing on climate change or Indigenous rights”.
“Canada is currently legislating a requirement for auto manufacturers to phase out gasoline-powered cars in favour of electric vehicles, and now our federal banking regulators must similarly require banks to phase out fossil fuel finance while ramping up support for clean energy.”
Story was adapted from Al Jazeera.
