Taking aim at Wall Street banks financing the oil, gas, and coal extraction fueling the climate crisis, a coalition of institutional investors on Tuesday announced the filing of climate-related shareholder resolutions in an effort to force “more climate-friendly policies that better align with” the firms’ public commitments to combating the planetary emergency. By Brett Wilkins […]
Top banks in the United States and around the world have made a show of embracing net-zero emissions pledges, portraying themselves as allies in the fight against the global climate emergency. But a new analysis published Tuesday by a group of NGOs makes clear that the world’s leading financial institutions—including major Wall Street banks such as Citigroup, JPMorgan […]
The head of the World Bank, David Malpass, was asked repeatedly by a New York Times reporter if climate change was real. He said, “I’m not a scientist.” By RL Miller Climate Hawks Vote The head of the World bank is in charge of funding energy projects across the globe. But Malpass isn’t Joe Biden’s pick, he’s […]
At a New York Times public event this week, World Bank President David Malpass, who was nominated to the position by former U.S. President Donald Trump, refused to say whether the burning of fossil fuels is causing climate change. While he backpedaled yesterday in an interview on CNN International, his initial statement has reignited public […]
In his first public speech as Vice-chair for Supervision at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Michael Barr announced last week that the Federal Reserve would take its first steps to require financial institutions to assess how their long-term financial position could be impacted by the physical harms of climate change and the economic transformation […]
You could be forgiven for thinking that Wall Street has experienced a climate epiphany. Bank of America brags about its environmental credentials; Citigroup’s new CEO announces on her first day that achieving net-zero emissions is a top priority. The onslaught has convinced many in even the left-leaning media that Wall Street will lead the way to a better, greener version of capitalism. […]
As scientists continue to raise alarm (Climate Chaos NOW: Earth has 50% chance of hitting 1.5°C of warming in FOUR YEARS), a climate campaign launched Tuesday spotlights 30 corporations using the U.S. and European bond markets to drive planet-heating coal, gas, and oil expansion. By Jessica Corbett Common Dreams The Toxic Bonds initiative found that the […]
A new online tool launched Wednesday by a U.S.-based advocacy group details how international public finance is continuing to fuel the climate emergency rather than sufficiently funding a just transition to clean energy. By Jessica Corbett Common Dreams Oil Change International (OCI) unveiled its Public Finance for Energy Database—accessible at energyfinance.org—along with a briefing that lays out key findings, why the […]
Scientists have warned repeatedly that avoiding the most catastrophic consequences of the climate crisis requires a rapid and just transition away from fossil fuels, and yet the largest 25 European banks—all purportedly committed to “net-zero” goals—have provided more than $400 billion in financing to 50 corporations expanding oil and gas production since 2016, with no signs of slowing down. By Kenny […]
The Financial Stability Oversight Council warned about the risk climate change-driven extreme weather poses to the financial system for the first time in its annual report to Congress last month. “Increased frequency and severity of acute physical risk events and longer-term chronic phenomena associated with climate change are expected to lead to increased economic and […]
Progressives are sounding the alarm about a recently launched right-wing campaign that seeks to preempt green investment policies throughout the United States by portraying the financial sector’s potential turn toward clean energy as discriminatory—and introducing legislation that would punish banks and asset managers for divesting from fossil fuels. By Kenny Stancil Common Dreams The Koch-funded American […]
Climate justice advocates suspended fellow activists from 15-foot-tall tripods in Toronto’s financial district on Tuesday, blocking entrances to the Royal Bank of Canada’s corporate headquarters as part of a campaign to pressure the nation’s five biggest banks to “stop funding climate chaos and injustice.” By Kenny Stancil Common Dreams “Bankers’ business-as-usual… is destabilizing the climate, destroying biodiversity, and violating Indigenous […]
Over 450 of the world’s banks have committed to a new initiative at the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference which is designed to decarbonise their investments. Overseen by former Bank of England supremo Mark Carney, the banks and other financial institutions signing up to Gfanz (the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero) are pledging to […]
As the ongoing COP26 climate summit draws attention to the financial institutions that enable fossil fuel companies to keep wrecking the planet, a pair of progressive U.S. senators on Friday introduced a bill that would force big banks to stop pouring money into the destructive industry. By Jessica Corbett Common Dreams The Fossil Free Finance Act, sponsored by […]
After months of waiting, environmental groups responded with disappointment tinged with outrage late Thursday after the White House released a report on the financial risks associated with the climate crisis—a document critics say would have been promising at some earlier point in history but that falls “pitifully” short given the urgency of the crisis and just […]