Your Bank is Probably Using Your Money to Fund Fossil Fuels

$5,500,000,000,000. If you're not in the mood to do the math, that's $5.5 trillion. That's the amount that the fossil fuel industry received from the world's top 60 banks in the last 7 years since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015.

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In a new annual report from Banking on Climate Chaos, it’s clear that the uptick in climate crises has not steered big banks away funding away from fossil fuel giants. And they do this using customers’ funds.  

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In just the last 5 years alone, these 60 banks have lent $4.6 trillion to fossil fuel firms. To provide context, this amount exceeds the U.S. military's spending, surpasses Germany's GDP (the 4th largest economy), and is very close to the cost of converting the entire U.S. grid to renewable energy.

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Who are the worst offenders?

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Out of the $5.5 trillion, $673 billion was invested in 2022 alone. For the first time in the last 4 years, JP Morgan Chase isn’t on top of this list. It has been ousted by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), which provided fossil fuel companies with $42.1 billion in 2022. Wells Fargo, Bank of America Corp, and Citigroup are the other 3 banks in the top 5.

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If we look at the collective investment in the fossil fuel industry from 2016-2022, the list flows like this: JP Morgan Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and RBC.

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Outside North America, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) ranks as the worst among Asian banks, financing $29.5 billion, and French bank BNP Paribas is the worst actor in Europe, financing $20.8 billion in 2022.

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Individuals have the power to change this by switching to green banks

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Many of us were unaware that banks are using our money to fund the climate crisis. You do not need to feel ashamed about this. These corporations ensure that their unethical practices remain hidden from the public by investing significant amounts of money and resources.

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But now that you are aware of it, you have the power to move away your money from these dirty banks and switch to green banks. We have curated a list of 25 sustainable banks that are better for the planet for you to get started on this journey.