RBC biggest fossil fuel funder globally in 2022 at US$42B: report

TORONTO –

A report from a coalition of environmental teams reveals that Royal Bank of Canada was the largest fossil gasoline financier on this planet final yr after offering over US$42 billion in funding.

The annual Banking on Climate Chaos report reveals the financial institution’s funding between 2016 and 2021 put it because the fifth-largest fossil gasoline funder however 2022 was the primary yr it supplied essentially the most cash.

According to the information, Scotiabank ranked ninth globally final yr with US$29.5 billion in funding and TD was simply behind it at about US$29 billion, whereas Bank of Montreal ranked fifteenth and CIBC sixteenth at US$19.3 billion and US$17.9 billion respectively.

At RBC’s annual shareholder assembly final week, chief government Dave McKay emphasised the significance of vitality safety and an orderly transition away from fossil gasoline funding as he defended the financial institution’s funding and local weather document.

Environmental advocates have been pushing banks to part out fossil gasoline funding as a approach to make it tougher to construct new oil and gasoline tasks and to speed up the transition to internet zero emissions.

Greenpeace Canada senior vitality strategist Keith Stewart mentioned in an announcement that RBC turning into the world’s largest fossil gasoline funder reveals bankers cannot be trusted to do the best factor on local weather change, so that they have to be regulated to take action.

This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed April 13, 2023.