News
Category: General

HSBC staff speak out anonymously on climate
Why are staff speaking out?
The science couldn’t be clearer, we simply cannot have any more NEW fossil fuel drilling to keep to a safe world. Yet, HSBC is the worst funder of new fossil fuel project companies in Europe, that’s billions of dollars a year to the companies accelerating the climate crisis.

Some big wins in climate you haven’t heard about!
There are plenty of wins happening across the world in the fight to get bank to stop funding fossil fuel projects. Here’s a few of the biggest:
Pressure on Crédit Agricole
Right now, French banking giant Crédit Agricole lends billions of dollars a year to fossil fuel companies.

Crashing RBC’s golf tournament
Quick question: what’s the best way to get the attention of the Royal Bank of Canada’s CEO?
Answer: Take his giant inflatable head to a golf tournament he’s sponsoring.

Raids at the Deutsche Bank offices
If you think we’re serious about taking on greenwashing by slapping HSBC on the wrist for misleading ads, you should see what they’re doing in Germany. German police raided HQs of Deutsche Bank (and a Deutsche Bank subsidiary called DWS) because they’re under investigation for lying about how green their investments are.

‘Who cares if Miami is six metres under water in 100 years?’
Stuart Kirk clearly misread the crowd. He did a public presentation at an event called Moral Money, where he said everything you can imagine a Head of Responsible Investment for HSBC shouldn’t say about climate.

Read the letter sent to the CEO of HSBC
Here’s the letter written to Noel Quinn, HSBC’s CEO, about Stuart Kirk’s presentation called “Why investors need not worry about climate risk”. In the talk he said “There’s always some nut job telling me about the end of the world”, “Climate change is not a financial risk that we need to worry about” and “Who cares if Miami is six metres underwater in 100 years?”.

Big win at Deutsche Bank’s AGM
Deutsche Bank’s AGM was a huge target for climate activists around the world. And boy, that target was smashed to smithereens!
All the pressure resulted in Deutsche Bank pulling a bunch of financial support out of the gigantic Whitehaven Coal Mine in Australia.

What’s the best way to crash a banking ‘sustainability’ conference?
The CEOs of Barclays and HSBC were talking at a sustainability event in the heart of London. They were there to talk about how they’re going to reach net zero by 2050, and why they’re solving the climate crisis.

To Barclays bosses – sorry for ruining your AGM
Barclays’ bosses must have had a serious headache after their AGM, and not just because activists set off the alarms.
Barclays are the largest funder of fossil fuels in Europe, and seventh largest in the world.

HSBC’s AGM did not go to plan 🤭
HSBC had a really tough day on AGM Friday. And it’s because of people and campaigners around the UK landed two big blows.
🤫 PS.

Shareholders tell Credit Suisse to clean up fossil fuel funding
What an incredible result. A quarter of Credit Suisse (CS) shareholders are telling CS to clean up on climate by voting against management and demanding a fossil fuel funding phase out.

🤯 Shareholders hold fossil banks’ feet to the fire
AGMs are meant to be where CEOs boast about their profits and give each other high fives. But this was something different. Three of the biggest fossil fuel funders in the world had their AGMs today – and shareholders are sending a clear message that they need to sort it out.

Yale students crash a fossil fuel professor’s lecture
This is a guest post by the activists at Yale Endowment Justice Coalition, who confronted their professor and Citi board member, Ernesto Zedillo today:
This morning, we at the Yale Endowment Justice Coalition, confronted Professor Ernesto Zedillo about Citigroup’s fossil fuel holdings.

Citi are in the climate crosshairs 🎯
🚨Update – Citi just had it’s AGM. There were two unprecedented votes on stopping new fossil fuel expansion and stopping the violation of indigenous rights. Both got much more support than expected, but neither passed.

🔥 Africa People’s AGM 🔥
What an incredible 2 hours. Campaigners across Africa came together to share stories, discuss tactics and take action against the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). The giant EACOP pipeline is set to devastate livelihoods, homes and habitats, mainly in Tanzania.

“Net-zero” banks’ numbers don’t stack up on fossil fuels
Before COP26, Mark Carney, who is in charge of wrangling global banks to join his Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), wrote a piece in the Financial Times about numbers.

Credit Suisse secrets they don’t want you to know
🚨 Update 🚨
Two big updates since this article was first published:
- As a result of the multiple failings outlined below, Credit Suisse are facing TWO major shareholder revolts.

The “Amazon of the sea” is under threat
The Verde Island Passage is known as the “Amazon of the sea” because of it’s incredibly diverse wildlife, is facing danger from giant fossil fuel companies who are trying to open it up for gas drilling.

UniCredit is hiding it’s dirty fossil fuel investments
UniCredit are doing their best to avoid facing up to their dirty investments. They’ve poured over $36bn into fossil fuels since 2016, and have avoided taking any real steps to cutting it out fully.

What a day of climate action in Canada 🔥
People across Canada are taking on RBC.
This was meant to be a day for Canada’s biggest bank, RBC had their AGM where their super rich investors come together to celebrate their profits, rub themselves on the back, and high five each-other.

IPCC report says it’s “now or never” for climate change – banks must stop
“We are on a fast track to climate disaster.” – Antonio Guterres, General Secretary of the UN
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is publishing it’s report on how to avoid the unprecedented heatwaves, terrifying storms, and widespread water shortages that we’re currently on track for.

Green groups tell bank CEOs to leave Russian behind
Banks around the world have billions of dollars in Russia, funding Russia’s biggest fossil fuel companies. Those are the same companies that are feeding Putin’s war chest. The same companies are filling Russian tanks with fuel.

New report shows that banks are all bark and no bite on climate
Over the last 6 years, since the Paris Climate Accord, the worlds 60 biggest banks have poured over $4,600,000,000,000 into fossil fuel projects. Your eyes aren’t deceiving you. That’s $4.6 TRILLION dollars being used for more oil rigs, more gas fields, and more coal mines.

Barclays climate proposals are as weak as they are late
The new climate proposals released by Barclays are completely contradictory. On one hand they’re committing to Net Zero by 2050. On the other hand, their new proposals allow them to keep investing in NEW fossil fuels.