HSBC Suspends "Who Cares If Miami's Under Six Meters Of Water?" Guy, Pumps $5 Billion Into Coal
HSBC has been accused of double standards after suspending an executive who said investors “need not worry” about climate change, while continuing to plough billions of pounds into fossil fuels. The British bank this week suspended the head of responsible investing at its asset management division after he gave a speech saying climate risks were exaggerated, asking: “Who cares if Miami is six metres underwater in 100 years? Amsterdam has been six metres underwater for ages and that’s a really nice place.”
Senior figures including its chief executive Noel Quinn have since distanced themselves from Stuart Kirk’s remarks. Nicolas Moreau, chief executive of HSBC Asset Management, Kirk’s division, called climate change “one of the most serious emergencies facing the planet”, adding that it is “committed to driving the transition to a sustainable global economy”.
But Kirk’s comments raise questions about the strength of that commitment. HSBC has financed £103 billion in fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement was ratified in 2016, including £43.8 billion in fossil fuel expansion, according to analysis by BankTrack. Among UK banks, this is second only to Barclays, which has financed £133 billion over the same period, and is considerably higher than Lloyds, Natwest and Standard Chartered.
HSBC financed nearly £14 billion in 2021 alone, including £5.1 billion in expansion, and millions in coal mining and power generation. The bank also has stakes in coal companies planning new plants that would emit 15 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide over their lifetimes, the equivalent of 32 years of the UK’s current emissions, according to campaign group Market Forces.
EDIT
https://www.desmog.com/2022/05/24/the-mask-slipped-hsbc-criticised-for-suspending-exec-while-still-pumping-billions-into-fossil-fuels/
