Bank group accused of exploiting loopholes and ‘greenwashing’ in climate pledge

theguardian.com:

Banks that have signed up to a global climate pledge, led by Mark Carney, a former governor of the Bank of England, can still invest unlimited amounts in coal mining and coal power, despite promises to tighten the rules on their lending.

Green campaigners have slammed the loopholes, uncovered by the Guardian, as “greenwashing”, after updated criteria for banks involved in the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) were unveiled on Wednesday.

These loopholes would allow banks to continue to make new investments in coal until this time next year.

GFANZ members can also maintain their existing investments in coal and other fossil fuels beyond 2023, subject to an eventual “phasing down and out” of these assets.

Campaigners said these conditions were inadequate to the scale of the climate challenge.

Beau O’Sullivan, senior campaigner for Bank On Our Future, said GFANZ member banks could get away without taking real action on greenhouse gas emissions. “Despite all its efforts today, GFANZ is yet to explicitly outlaw financing and investment in coal companies that are still building new coal-fired power stations – which is baffling. You can say you’re aiming for 1.5C and net zero, but it is meaningless to have this aspiration without clear requirements to phase out all support for coal along science-based timelines.”

GFANZ was launched with fanfare at the Cop26 UN climate summit in Glasgow last November by Carney, bringing together more than 450 big banks and financial institutions to help the world meet its net zero emissions target. Membership is taken to be a seal of green approval, showing banks are aligned with the global goal of limiting temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

GFANZ members, worth $130tn