News

Japan’s banks are among the worst in the world when it comes to funding the climate crisis. Two huge banks – MUFG and Olympic sponsor Mizuho – are in the global top 10 of polluting funders, alongside other big names like Barclays, Royal Bank of Canada and JP Morgan Chase.

Fortunately, groups like ReCommon are holding these banks to account and pushing them to do better.

Unicredit

Unicredit is the second largest bank in Italy which, in 2020, adopted an impressive coal policy.

Just over three months ago, Mark Gallogly was brought in to be an advisor to John Kerry, President Biden’s climate envoy. But the appointment was a controversial one.

Kerry has stated that his advisor made invaluable connections with the financial sector to persuade banks and asset managers of the need for climate action.

Outside the venue, people dressed as giant strawberries to hand out punnets of delicious fruit dripping in HSBC-funded oil. It was part of Fossil Fuel London’s blitz during Wimbledon fortnight to expose what HSBC is really up to.

No less than 115 investment companies and asset managers have signed the letter – together they represent $4.2 trillion of assets. They’ve targeted banks across Europe, North America and Asia, including HSBC, Barclays, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, Royal Bank of Canada, and MUFG.

The message was beamed loud and clear as a set of stunning projections near the summit venue in Cornwall. It was recently revealed that UK banks and financial companies are responsible for more emissions than most countries, so action to curb loans, investments and underwriting in fossil fuel companies is needed more than ever.

The good news is that shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of more ambitious policies on financing for coal and other high-carbon industries – the resolution passed with 99.71% of the vote.

Chimney sweeps were spotted on the streets of London yesterday, as activists protested about pollution caused by some of the city’s biggest institutions. It wasn’t sooty smoke from fireplaces and power stations they were complaining about though, but the carbon emissions generated by investments from the UK’s biggest banks and asset managers.

We know that UK banks and asset managers like Barclays and HSBC are fuelling the climate crisis by financing polluting companies. Now new analysis exposes just how much the finance sector is in for.

The climate resolution put forward at this year’s AGM is a good start, and your plan to end coal financing by 2040 is promising. But you still have a lot more to do before you can claim to be fully aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Guest blog from Jeanne Martin, Senior Campaign Manager, ShareAction 

It’s been a year and a half since Lloyds Banking Group committed to net-zero.

Standard Chartered has been getting it from all sides today, ahead of its annual shareholders meeting tomorrow. The bank’s ongoing financing of fossil fuels has been called out in some creative and inspiring ways.

The votes are in: nearly a quarter of Barclays shareholders defied bank executives over their climate policies at yesterday’s annual meeting.

Barclays chair Nigel Higgins had asked shareholders to vote against a resolution that would commit the bank to phasing out funding for fossil fuels.

Barclays’ annual general meeting is on the horizon, giving shareholders and investors the chance to push the bank towards defunding fossil fuels. The question is: will they seize this opportunity, even though Barclays has told them to vote against?

A new banking alliance has been established, claiming to set ambitious targets in addressing the climate crisis. Sounds great, right? Yet the Net-Zero Banking Alliance is sadly a wasted opportunity that does nothing to bring big banks closer to ending fossil fuel funding.

A group of Barclays shareholders have put forward a climate resolution at the upcoming annual shareholder meeting to force the bank to end its fossil fuel funding. Barclays has advised shareholders to vote in favour of all other resolutions, apart from the climate one.

This morning activists gathered outside Blackrock. BlackRock is the world’s biggest asset manager, with more than USD $9 trillion in assets under management. It’s also the world’s top investor in climate destruction.

In just a few weeks, HSBC shareholders will vote on a climate resolution at the bank’s AGM. If it passes, HSBC will be committed to putting plans in place to end its fossil fuel funding.

On Friday, hundreds of people took over a street in San Francisco outside the head offices of Wells Fargo, a major US bank. Their mission: to paint a huge banner on the tarmac, protesting the bank’s role in funding the climate crisis.

Climate strikers were out in force last week for the latest global strike, and Standard Chartered was firmly in their sights.
 
At protests around the world, strikers called out the bank for its continued involvement with fossil fuel companies.

UK banks are still funnelling billions into fossil fuels according to new research, while Barclays and HSBC remain among the worst in the world.

The latest Banking on Climate Chaos report reveals that 60 banks have provided $3.8 trillion to the fossil fuel industry in the last five years.

Wow. HSBC, one of the biggest funders of fossil fuels in the world, has announced plans to set clear deadlines for ending coal financing.

The bank’s board of directors has tabled a resolution for its upcoming AGM to phase out support for coal companies.

In a major step forward in ending fossil fuel financing, the Bank of England has been given a new mandate to support the government’s net-zero carbon strategy. As a result, the Bank will need to realign its monetary policies away from fossil fuels and towards investment in sustainable industries.

Almost 80% of directors on the boards of the UK’s big five banks have connections to polluting industries, a new analysis has found.[1] The figures suggest such ‘climate-conflicted’ directors could represent a systemic obstacle to progressive climate action, as shareholders prepare to meet to consider a range of progressive environmental resolutions at the banks’ AGMs.