GRAND Magazine - Winter 2023 - 29

climate change
Why we must act:
banks drive climate
BY THIRD ACT
E
veryone knows that the big oil and gas companies
have gamed the system for years and lied
about the climate threat-all while continuing
to expand their empire. But the truth about the role
that big banks play in funding the destruction of
the environment is not widely known.
Since the Paris climate accords were signed,
Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo and Bank of America
have loaned the fossil fuel industry a trillion dollars.
As Bloomberg News recently reported, if the
financial services industry was a nation, it would be
the fifth-biggest emitter on earth.
Every one of the companies that have been
involved in the reckless, polluting, climate-destroying
projects you've heard about in recent years
were supported directly, or indirectly, by these
banks. For instance, Enbridge Corporation, which
built Line 3 to carry tarsands oil across Minnesota
last year, has financing from all four of these banks.
A recently released report, The Carbon Bankroll,
also shows how for many of the world's largest
companies the corporate cash in banks is the
source of many times more emissions than the
29 GRAND Winter/Spring 2023
emissions that stem directly
from the companies' business
operations. For example,
in 2021, Google's
financial footprint (carbon
emissions from its corporate
cash in banks) was
38 times larger than the company's
total direct operational emissions over the last five
years. Turns out that which banks you choose to
put your money in can outweigh the other components
of your carbon footprint, as explained in this
infographic " Is Your Money Bankrolling the Climate
Crisis? "
Activists, including Third Act leaders, have been
protesting these actions for several years now
by writing reports, sending letters demanding
change, going to jail, and holding non-violent protests
outside of branches. Fortunately, there has
been some changes made; Chase, for instance,
was forced to oust its board chair, who had previous
entanglements with Exxon. They've signed on
to pledges to go " net zero " by 2050-but these
are vague promises that don't come anywhere close
to meeting the green goals that scientists have
set. They've just been greenwashing. As Chase's
managing director said last year, oil and gas lending
" is a huge business for us and that's going to
be the case for decades to come. " Or as Citibank's
" Sustainability " Officer said recently, " We are not
talking about a year-on-year reduction in financed
emissions, " even though that is precisely what
scientists say we need. Indeed, the International
Energy Agency, created in the 1970s in response
to the oil shocks that inspired so many of us to
join this fight, said last year that if we wanted to
meet the Paris climate targets " there can be no
new investments in oil, gas and coal, from now -
from this year. "
Continued on next page
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GRAND Magazine - Winter 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRAND Magazine - Winter 2023
