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.
Make no mistake, RBC deserve to be thrown out of the net zero club. They’re funding a giant pipeline called Coastal Gas Link, which is facing kickback from indigenous communities (the Wet’suwet’en people) who live on the sacred land that the pipeline is trying to bulldoze through. The people behind Coastal Gas Link are trying desperately to throw them off their land, so much so that they’ve resorted to violence more than once:
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It’s a huge reason why RBC are facing increasing backlash from activists and people across Canada who are backing up indigenous leaders. Earlier this year, demonstrations forced RBC to cancel their in-person AGM less than 24 hours before the event. A huge win for land defenders and campaigners.
Activists even crashed the massive golf tournament that RBC sponsor. And yes, there was a giant inflatable head of the CEO:
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If RBC are thrown out of the net-zero club, they will face serious criticism as many of their shareholders and investors will lose faith in them as a bank trying to do good. They’ll finally see the truth, which is that RBC are doing the opposite:
“The implication in the Race to Zero criteria … is no new fossil fuels, and cut your finance fossil fuels in half by 2030, which is a much bigger step than anything most global banks are really doing right now, and certainly the Canadian banks who are increasing their funding of fossil fuels,” Greenpeace Canada senior energy strategist Keith Stewart
The rules around kicking people out of the club are still being worked out. But with every passing day that RBC continue to pile cash into destruction, they paint a bigger target on their backs.
RBC must stop funding fossil fuels NOW