Page 4 - AfrElec Week 07 2022

AfrElec COMMENTARY AfrElec

Leading banks continue

fossil fuel investment

despite green rhetoric

GLOBAL LEADING global banks have continued to offer 50% chance of limiting warming to 1.5C.
$33bn of financing to expand existing fossil fuel Other widely-used 1.5C climate scenarios,
projects over the past year, despite their commit- such as those produced by the Network for
ments to promoting green energy projects. Greening the Financial System, point towards
Analysis by the campaign group ShareAction similar conclusions.
found that banks such as HSBC, Barclays and
BNP Paribas have offered $33bn in loans and Research
other financing to 50 companies with plans to Yet new data from ShareAction shows that
expand existing oil and gas production projects. banks continue to flaunt this guidance. It stud-
All this has taken place since the banks signed ied the volumes of finance provided by 25 of the
up to the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) in largest European banks to 50 companies with
April 2021. large oil & gas expansion plans, including Exxon
New data from ShareAction, a responsible Mobil, Saudi Aramco, Shell and BP.
investment NGO, found that 24 leading banks It found that the 25 banks have provided over
had provided $33bn to oil and gas expanders $400 billion in finance to these companies since
since joining the NZBA in 2021year, with over 2016. HSBC tops the table with $59bn, followed
half – $19bn – coming from four of the founding by Barclays ($48bn) and BNP Paribas ($46bn).
members – HSBC, Barclays, BNP Paribas and Twenty-four of the banks in ShareAction’s
Deutsche Bank. study are members of the UN-convened Net
NZBA members have committed to set emis- Zero Banking Alliance (the exception is DZ
sion reduction targets for their energy portfolios, Bank, which is a member of the Net Zero Bank-
but the alliance’s guidelines are silent on fossil ing Alliance Germany).
fuel expansion. Mark Campanale, Founder and Executive
The banks’ continued investment also fails Chair of Carbon Tracker, said,
to follow the advice of the International Energy “ShareAction has produced excellent analysis
Agency, which called in 2021 for no investment which reminds banks that there is no pathway
in new oil & gas fields if the world is to have a to net zero that involves funding an expansion

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 07 17•February•2022