Surprise! Global Alliance Of Banks "Committed" To Climate Can Invest All They Want In Coal
Banks that have signed up to a global climate pledge, led by Mark Carney, a former governor of the Bank of England, can still invest unlimited amounts in coal mining and coal power, despite promises to tighten the rules on their lending. Green campaigners have slammed the loopholes, uncovered by the Guardian, as “greenwashing”, after updated criteria for banks involved in the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) were unveiled on Wednesday. These loopholes would allow banks to continue to make new investments in coal until this time next year.
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GFANZ was launched with fanfare at the Cop26 UN climate summit in Glasgow last November by Carney, bringing together more than 450 big banks and financial institutions to help the world meet its net zero emissions target. Membership is taken to be a seal of green approval, showing banks are aligned with the global goal of limiting temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. GFANZ members, worth $130tn at the time of Cop26, are pouring billions of dollars in funding each year into clean energy. However, many members are also continuing to pour billions into fossil fuels, and are permitted to do so under GFANZ criteria.
These rules were criticised as too loose at the launch, and have now been updated, by a UN grouping called Race to Zero, an initiative to encourage companies to set their own targets to reach net zero emissions. This update, in a 113-page “recommendation and guidance” document, was hailed as an improvement on the original criteria. However, the Guardian has ascertained that in the small print GFANZ members will still be allowed to invest in new coal projects for a further year from now, and that their existing investments in coal and other fossil fuels can also continue for years, subject to some restrictions.
O’Sullivan said: “The only real action we’ve seen from banks is to up their greenwashing budget. GFANZ has huge potential, but sadly it’s providing financial institutions with cover to continue, with a few exceptions, business as usual. They need to make a plan to get out of all fossil fuels, including oil and gas, and stop their funding of the [fossil fuel] sector’s growth right now.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/15/banks-agreeing-climate-pledge-gfanz-accused-of-exploiting-loopholes-greenwashing
