Choosing the bank based on the impact on the climate and the environment

According to the latest report, $ 38 trillion was earmarked for fossil fuel funding between 20916 and 2020, a 9% year-over-year decline in 2020 due to lower demand during the worst months of the pandemic. but with numbers that in any case continue to grow steadily in the opposite direction to what is required by the Paris agreements. Despite the agreements, which should have been a clear watershed and mark a change of course, in fact, the volume of investments in fossil fuels in 2020 is globally higher than that of 2016. The ranking of the worst sees JP Morgan Chase in absolute first place , followed by Citi, WellsFargo and Bank of America. In Europe Barclays is doing badly, and even BNP Paribas ranks among the least virtuous, the fourth worst in the world. Its financing in the fossil fuel sector grew by 41% from 2019 to 2020, and by 141% compared to 2016. The Canadians are doing better: the 5 main institutions in the country have greatly improved their ratings, which while UniCredit proves to be the most advanced as a policy for the reduction of financing for fossil fuels. long-term damage both in ecological terms and in respect of human rights of plants financed also thanks to funds from large banks. This, despite the commitments made by all the major institutes to adhere to the reduction of emissions by 2050, which according to the report remain unfounded promises at the time. ShareAction, a British nonprofit for the promotion of responsible investments, also shares the same opinion. “Many banks showed up at the starting blocks but few started running” said Jeanne Martin presenting the association’s latest report, focused on European banks, none of which, for example, has committed to completely withdrawing from loans to fossil fuels, and only 3 of the 25 institutions analyzed (Lloyds Banking, NatWest and Nordea Bank) plan to halve them by 2030.A key issue, that of the diversion of funding towards clean energy, which will also be at the center of the Climate Conference to be held in Glasgow in November. The problem for banks is wider than a low environmental rating. If they do not meet their objectives, they could be abandoned by investors who in turn have environmental commitments to respect. And so some large institutions, such as NatWest, are moving to ask the recipients of their loans for credible transition plans for reducing emissions. Others (few) have announced that they will gradually abandon the sector altogether. HSBC plans to do so by 2040, while Intesa Sanpaolo has committed to exiting the sector of unconventional sources of gas and oil, such as fracking and offshore drilling in the Arctic Ocean.