Why Banks?

Banks are backing the fossil fuel industry

From 2016 to 2020, the world’s 60 largest banks invested $3.8 trillion into fossil fuel projects and companies. That’s a lot of coal mines, pipelines, and dirty factories. While many of us do our part to slow climate change, banks use our money (the cash we deposit or pay on our mortgages) to prop up the very companies making climate change worse.

There’s a new global consensus: to meet the goals of the Paris Climate agreement, and limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C, there can’t be any new coal, oil, or gas expansion. 

Banks may seem neutral, but they’re helping the dangerous and dying fossil fuel industry expand. And their investments overwhelmingly harm Indigenous, Black, and Brown communities. Banks need to stop financing fossil fuel companies and invest big in clean energy, historically sidelined communities, and climate solutions instead. They can back a global green recovery that’s fair and inclusive, where no one is left behind. Together, we’re pushing them to change. 

The biggest fossil fuel offenders

  • JP Morgan Chase

    Despite many years of intense pressure, Chase, the world’s number-one fossil bank, has done very little to address its massive climate problem.

  • United States
  • From 2016 — 2020

  • $317 billion

  • Citi

    As the second-worst fossil bank on earth, Citi is flying under the radar, despite having multiple ‘climate-friendly’ board members.

  • United States
  • From 2016 — 2020

  • $237 billion

  • RBC

    RBC talks publicly about having a “purpose” and taking climate action seriously, yet it remains Canada’s number-one, and the world’s fifth-worst, fossil bank.

  • Canada
  • From 2016 — 2020

  • $160 billion

  • HSBC

    Under intense pressure from many different groups, including shareholders, in 2021 HSBC finally provided a timeline to exit coal. But its global fossil fuel investments continue.

  • United Kingdom
  • From 2016 — 2020

  • $111 billion

  • Deutsche Bank

    Is a founding member of the net zero banking alliance, yet continues to pump billions into fossil fuel companies expansion plans in Germany and abroad.

  • Germany
  • From 2016 — 2020

  • $75 billion

Green pledges are meaningless if emissions still rise

Banks love to advertise their green energy investments, “ESG funds,” and sustainability offices. Some are making “Net-Zero by 2050” announcements. A few banks have even made short-term commitments to stop financing fossil fuels, but it’s not enough.

Action in 30 years won’t help us now. We must cut global emissions in half this decade. A few green projects won’t outweigh the damage banks do by backing more fossil fuels. It’s like trying to stop a tsunami with a fishing net.

Read more about what banks are doing by reading RAN’s Banking on Climate Chaos report HERE

We’re tackling this together

The climate crisis can feel overwhelming. But cutting off the money supply is a powerful tool for change. We’re pressuring banks at every level, from tellers, to branch managers, to executives, to shareholders, and beyond.

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