The world's 60 biggest banks have lent £5.5 trillion to fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement, according to analysis.
Banks, including big UK banks such as Barclays and HSBC, will reduce their lending to fossil fuels in 2023, according to the 15th Banking on Climate Chaos (BOCC) annual report on climate change, published on Monday. £562 billion was pledged.
Seven years have passed since 2016, when a legally binding international treaty aimed at limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels came into force.
expansion
The United Nations says banks will play a key role in the transition by aligning their portfolios with the Paris Agreement.
The International Energy Agency said new fossil fuel projects should not be developed beyond existing sectors to stay within temperature limits.
BOCC's coalition of campaign and research groups analyzed bank lending and underwriting to more than 4,200 fossil fuel companies as reported by Bloomberg LP and London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG).
They found that more than half of major banks' fossil fuel lending in 2023, or £277bn, was dedicated solely to expansion. Meanwhile, it was found that a total of £2.6 trillion has been spent on fossil fuel expansion since 2016.
shocked
US bank JP Morgan Chase was named the world's biggest fossil fuel investor in 2023, having invested $41bn (£33bn) in fossil fuel companies.
According to the analysis, Citibank has provided the most funding for fossil fuel expansion since 2016, providing £163bn.
Barclays, the UK's biggest bank, is now eighth in the world with £188bn of fossil fuel lending since 2016. The amount of money invested in fossil fuels in 2023 was £19 billion, ranking 9th out of the top 12.
HSBC ranks 12th in the world with £153bn of fossil fuel lending since 2016.
April Merlo, co-author of the report and research manager at Rainforest Action Network, said the report lifts the lid on greenwashing by banks. “In a year of record climate change impacts, we are shocked to see increased financing for all categories of fossil fuels,” she said.
loan
Lucy Pinson, director at Reclaim Finance and co-author of the report, said: „European banks like to claim they are showing leadership on climate action, but despite this they are „We continue to invest money in expanding our business.“ This is a clear warning from climate science. ”
The paper is supported by nearly 600 organizations in 69 countries and was written by researchers from Banktrack, the Center for Energy, Ecology and Development, Indigenous Environmental Network, Oil Change International, Sierra Club and Urgewald.
The authors said all banks were contacted and given the opportunity to consider the transaction with them.
Coinciding with the release of the report, Barclays was criticized for calling billions of dollars in financing for fossil fuel companies „sustainable.“