(Toronto) Royal Bank funding tied to fossil fuel expansion jumped nearly half last year, to its highest level since the Paris climate accord was struck in 2015, shows data from an environmental group.
According to Stand.earth, Royal funding for expansion projects and companies working to increase oil and natural gas production reached US$10.8 billion last year, a 45% increase on 2021. This goes against both the findings of the latest United Nations (UN) climate report and the Royal Bank’s own climate commitments, the group pointed out.
A UN report released on Monday underscored the urgency of taking more ambitious action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while the International Energy Agency recently argued that no new Fossil fuel supply should only be built to give the world an equal chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C.
In its latest climate report released earlier in March, Royal Bank said its loans and funded issuances reflect the Canadian economy and that a balanced approach is needed for an orderly and inclusive energy transition.
The bank’s report showed that its overall funded emissions for the oil and gas industry increased by around 23% last year, compared to 2021, but only after significantly revising down from the 2021 level in reason, according to her, of an improvement in the data.
Royal has pledged to be carbon neutral in its funding by 2050 and has set interim targets for 2030, but Stand.earth’s Richard Brooks says the bank’s funding actions run counter to these commitments.
“It should be a downward trend, but we see the opposite happening,” assured Mr. Brooks, the group’s director of climate finance.
The latest UN report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also called for increased funding for climate solutions, which it says the Royal is failing to do.
The bank has pledged to provide $500 billion in sustainable finance by 2025, including about $85 billion last year, but Brooks noted that the bank still spends about $99 on fossil fuels for every dollar invested in fossil fuels. renewable energies.
“We need all of our tools in our toolbox to be aligned with that, and we certainly need our biggest banks aligned with that. And right now, our largest bank, the Royal Bank of Canada, is not. »