Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero: After committing to net zero, financial institutions pour billions into fossil fuels development, report finds
"Throwing fuel on the fire: GFANZ members provide billions in finance for fossil fuel expansion", 17 Jan 2023
After committing to net zero by joining the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), financial institutions, including HSBC and LGIM have continued pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into the companies developing fossil fuels, according to a new report published today by a group of NGOs... As business and finance leaders meet in Davos for the World Economic Forum, the NGOs call on GFANZ’s sectoral alliances to insist their members stop supporting fossil fuel expansion. If they are serious about meeting their commitment to reach net zero by 2050 following a 1.5°C pathway... [Report found that:]
- Since joining the alliance, 56 of the biggest banks in the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) have provided US$270 billion to 102 major fossil fuel expanders, via 134 loans and 215 underwriting transactions;
- 58 of the largest members of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative (NZAM) held at least US$847 billion of stocks and bonds in 201 major fossil fuel developers as of September 2022;
- Only a handful of the financial institutions have adopted policies that meaningfully restrict finance to new fossil fuel projects and companies developing new fossil supply projects since joining GFANZ...
In total, 229 of the world’s largest fossil fuel developers received finance from the 161 GFANZ members covered in this report... which will support them to develop new coal power plants, mines, ports and other infrastructure, as well as new oil and gas fields and pipelines and LNG terminals. These new fossil fuel projects are incompatible with the objective of limiting global warming to 1.5°C...