The financing of fossil fuel companies continues at the highest levels despite promises made by the world’s largest banks to limit lending.There’s no way to sugarcoat this. The world’s largest banks are providing the money fossil fuel companies need so they can continue degrading the environment to the point where the humans may no longer be able to survive on our little blue planet at the far edge of a minor galaxy. Banks loan money. That’s what they do.
claims the world’s banking industry has loaned $4.6 trillion to the fossil fuel industry in the 6 years since the Paris Climate Accords were agreed to in Paris in 2015.In 2021, the UK hosted the annual COP meeting, where former Bank of England governor Mark Carney introduced the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero initiative.
. “Non-state actors cannot claim to be net zero while continuingvto build or invest in new fossil fuel supply,” says Catherine McKenna, chair of the UN’s Expert Group on Net Zero., “GFANZ members are acting as climate arsonists. They’ve pledged to achieve net zero but are continuing to pour hundreds of billions of dollars into fossil fuel developers.
Lucie Pinson, executive director and founder of Reclaim Finance, accused the alliance of greenwashing. “It is business as usual for most banks and investors [involved in GFANZ], who continue to support fossil fuel developers without any restrictions, despite their high-profile commitments to carbon neutrality,” she said.