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Note: RBC staff are speaking out about the billions of dollars RBC is continuing to lending to fossil fuel companies. If you want to speak out too, take this short survey, or email confidential@bankonourfuture.org.

It’s that time again for governments and big finance to discuss their way out of the climate crisis. It’s COP27 time. COP is traditionally littered with empty promises, backroom wrangling, and an ocean load of greenwashing.

The pressure is working. Three amazing announcements have come out in the last week that are direct results of years of pressure from amazing work done across the climate movement.

The co-chair of the world’s largest “green alliance” of banks, Mark Carney, has tried to put a brave face on the failings of banks in addressing the climate crisis. But during cross-examination at the UK parliament’s environmental audit committee this week, the cracks showed.

Caught greenwashing red-handed?

Canada’s largest bank is having a pretty awful week. RBC is now being investigated by a federal agency over alleged ‘greenwashing’, which is vindication for campaigners who have been saying this for literally years.

Bloom and Wild is a huge UK-based flower delivery company. They’re one of the most sustainable…if you completely ignore their choice of bank. Bloom and Wild bank with Barclays.

The Royal Bank of Canada is funding climate change, all on the watch of its CEO – Dave McKay. RBC is the 5th worst bank in the world (and the worst in Canada) for lending money to fossil fuel companies.

Here’s three things that are true:

1. There’s no question, coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel, pound for pound. It releases more damaging substances into the air than oil or gas.

The Royal Bank of Canada is Canada’s biggest bank and the 5th biggest funder of fossil fuels in the world – that’s $201.229 billion since 2016. A new report from Greenpeace Canada says that RBC’s terrible record is enough to get it (and other large Canadian banks) thrown out of the UN’s Net Zero club, which would be a serious hit to their reputation.

Wednesday 24th was an important date. It marked 6 months since the start of the war and Ukrainian independence day. That’s why on Wednesday, thousands of people came together around the world to demand that banks like HSBC and Citi cut all financial ties with Putin’s Russia.

If you work for HSBC, join your colleagues and have your say in the confidential staff survey now: https://rp38jmcm937.typeform.com/hsbc-russia

HSBC is propping up Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

(Updated on Friday August 19th to include link to letter to Citi CEO)

Citi are propping up Putin’s war. Here’s how:

Citi is a giant US bank, and its involvement with the Russian economy – and Putin – is the largest among all US banks.

The Ukrainian government is accusing four major banks of war crimes for their continued funding of business with Russian fossil fuels. Citi, HSBC, JP Morgan and Crèdit Agricole are lending billions of dollars a year to fossil fuel companies.

Here’s the press release with all the major facts and figures you need:

New research shows that underwriting coal, oil & gas bonds is a glaring loophole in banks’ net-zero targets

• Banks have underwritten $2.7 trillion worth of coal, oil and gas bonds since the 2015 Paris climate agreement. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?”.

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.

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.

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 had a really tough day on AGM Friday. And it’s because of people and campaigners around the UK landed two big blows.

🤫 PS.