Investors to big banks: Show us how you'll meet climate goals - E&E News by POLITICO
Investors to big banks: Show us how you’ll meet climate goals - E&E News by POLITICO
Under pressure from climate-concerned investors, Wall Street banks have set splashy emissions goals, touted near-term targets and committed to disclosing their carbon footprints.
But the investors and advocates who pushed for those moves still aren’t satisfied. Now they’re turning up the heat and calling on the largest U.S. banks to show their climate-related work — and prove they’re making good on their promises.
“They’ve made the long-term commitments, they’ve set the near-term targets, they’re disclosing their financed emissions now on an annual basis,” said Ben Cushing, who leads the Sierra Club’s finance campaign.
“But investors, rightly, are concerned that banks don’t actually have the plans in place to achieve those targets and commitments, and so they’re asking for more information about how they are going to do that,” Cushing added.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”