WASHINGTON - Despite pressure from activists, investors and governments, the majority of world’s 50 largest banks have not made sustainable finance commitments to respond to the risks of climate change and continue to finance fossil fuels, according to new findings by the World Resources Institute released on Thursday.
Washington-based WRI unveiled its new Green Target Tool, which analyzes and compares the world’s 50 largest private banks’ public commitments to address climate and found that as of July, only 23 of the world’s 50 largest private banks made commitments to finance projects for sustainable energy. “If banks are serious about sustainability and stepping up to address the climate change challenge, we would expect to see a shift in how their sustainable finance commitments compare with their fossil fuel finance,” said Giulia Christianson, head of sustainable investing at WRI.
Banks have been making sustainable finance commitments for more than a decade but the number of announcements increased in the lead up to the Paris Climate Change summit in 2015 and continues to rise steadily.
Banks need to worry about not creating money out of thin air through fractional reserve lending, the environmental concerns you're worried about will be millennia after the catastrophic end of the banking system.