The Royal Bank of Canada makes a loss of billions of commitment to sustainable financing and shows the main reason for regulatory changes in terms of greenwashing.
What happens?
The Canadian press reported that RBC has scraped its plans to facilitate sustainable financing of 500 billion US dollars after the discovery of problems with its methodology. Canada's largest bank said, updates from the Competition Act, according to which metrics are necessary to align itself with internationally recognized methods, informed his decision.
As a result, RBC becomes known that it will also not publish any information about the energy supply ratio that measures financing for projects with low -carbon and low -carbon projects.
“The recent changes to the Canadian Competition Act limit the information that we can share about certain sustainability information,” said Jennifer Livingston, Vice President of RBC. “We are disappointed not to share these metrics externally, but will continue to monitor and report internally to measure our progress.”
Why is that important?
RBC's refusal to report its energy supply ratio raises doubts about the climate obligations and is particularly worrying because it has a history of financing projects for dirty fuels.
Last year, the banking report on climate chaos called RBC as one of its “dirty” banks that accelerate the use of dirty fuels that make up more than three quarters of the global planet-warming carbon pollution in conjunction with disease spread, food uncertainty and economic losses.
Transparency is of essential importance for climate reporting and helps the regulatory authorities to formulate evidence -based guidelines that strengthen accountability and build up trust in institutions.
Richard Brooks, director of climate finance at the environmental group.
Tanya Jemec, a financial lawyer at Ecooustice, wrote in an email to the Canadian press that RBC could have used existing methods to report the energy supply ratio. However, this might have resulted in unsavory details about the bank's climate progress.
“If the bank takes up a standard like that of Bloombergnef, it may be able to meet Canada's requirements for greenwashing – but this could uncover its poor performance,” said Jemec.
What is done about it?
In its latest sustainability report for responsible investments, sustainability financing and support for a net zero economy, RBC advertises that a warming climate and a loss of biological diversity “are two of the greatest environmental challenges for the planet”.
While the latest report indicates that RBC has a long way to fulfill its promise, the banking giant lists specific measures that can take to reduce dirty fuels. For example, by 2035, more than 1,500 outdated HLK systems should be replaced by energy-efficient, inexpensive heat pumps in its retail network.
Brooks suggested that more robust climate medical regulations would also cause financial institutions to introduce more sustainable practices.
“RBC continues to step back, so this means in my opinion [Prime Minister Mark] Carney has to go forward and recognize that voluntary measures do not work and the regulation must be accelerated, ”said Brooks of the Canadian press.
Make our free newsletter for Good news And Useful tipsAnd don't miss this cool list of simple ways to help yourself and help the planet.
