Bank boards have conflicts of interest over climate – and it shows in the fossil fuels they back
Analysis finds 77% of directors on boards of seven US banks have ties to ‘climate-conflicted’ groups, as banks continue to finance projects like the Line 3 oil pipeline.
US banks are pledging to help fight the climate crisis alongside the Biden administration, but their boards are dominated by people with climate-related conflicts of interest, and they continue to invest deeply in fossil fuel projects.
Three out of every four board members at seven major US banks (77%) have current or past ties to climate-conflicted companies or organizations – from oil and gas corporations to trade groups that lobby against reducing climate pollution, according to a first-of-its-kind review by climate influence analysts for the blog DeSmog.
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Atlantis Viewpoint
Despite US banks pledging to help fight the climate crisis alongside the Biden administration, a new analysis found they continue to invest deeply in fossil fuel projects. A move extremely incompatible with environmental goals.
One of the controversial projects they are backing is the new Line 3 tar sands pipeline, currently under construction in northern Minnesota. If completed, the project would allow the Canadian oil giant Enbridge to double the amount of high-polluting tar sands oil it transports through the region. A project that currently has seven active loans, totalling $11.5bn. Activists and environmental groups have been desperately trying to halt construction, but time is running out.
If we want to see real change towards proven large scale clean energy production systems, we have to ensure investors realise the huge potential return available from those energy systems which will actually protect all of their investments for the future. There is no need to keep pumping money in to fossil fuels when we have the technology to create clean fuels and electricity at the same costs. CSP plants can provide clean electricity, fresh water, and green hydrogen to the world.
