{"id":57198,"date":"2023-02-02T12:31:21","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T17:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/?p=57198"},"modified":"2023-09-28T14:02:39","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T18:02:39","slug":"rbc-is-putting-99-of-its-energy-finance-into-fossil-fuels-heres-what-they-should-fund-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/story\/57198\/rbc-is-putting-99-of-its-energy-finance-into-fossil-fuels-heres-what-they-should-fund-instead\/","title":{"rendered":"RBC is putting 99% of its energy finance into fossil fuels: Here\u2019s what they should fund instead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>RBC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/community-social-impact\/environment\/index.html\">claims<\/a> to be committed to climate action, yet Canada\u2019s largest bank (and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/story\/52648\/canadas-big-five-banks-increased-support-for-fossil-fuels-by-70-in-2021\/\">fifth largest<\/a> financier of fossil fuels in the world) is allocating a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/sustainable-business\/bank-funding-renewables-stagnates-vs-oil-gas-report-2023-01-24\/\">mere 1% of its energy finance<\/a> to renewable energy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"681\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2021\/04\/c0842e09-dsc6511-1024x681.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-47218\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2021\/04\/c0842e09-dsc6511-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2021\/04\/c0842e09-dsc6511-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2021\/04\/c0842e09-dsc6511-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2021\/04\/c0842e09-dsc6511-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2021\/04\/c0842e09-dsc6511-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2021\/04\/c0842e09-dsc6511-510x340.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Protest outside RBC over bank&#8217;s finance of fossil fuels, March 24, 2021. Photo credit Stephanie Lake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>RBC is not the only climate arsonist. Since 2016, the world\u2019s 60 largest commercial banks <a href=\"https:\/\/www.banktrack.org\/download\/background_briefing_just_7_of_global_banks_energy_financing_goes_to_renewables_new_data_shows\/230124_background_briefing_renewables_data.pdf\">provided $2.5 trillion<\/a> (US dollars) in loans and bond underwriting to energy activities. Of that, $2.3 trillion (92%) was related to the production of fossil fuel energy and just $178 billion (7%) was related to clean energy activities such as wind and solar.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>This needs to change.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>What should the banks fund instead of more fossil fuels?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>Rather than pouring billions into false solutions like carbon capture or fossil-derived hydrogen that extend the life of the destructive fossil-based energy system, banks should be investing in the energy system we need to live sustainably and respect, uphold and affirm Indigenous rights. While the details vary between scenarios, the electrification of transport and heating is at the core of any credible low-carbon future.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><em>\u201cAs electricity generation becomes progressively cleaner, electrification of areas previously dominated by fossil fuels emerges as a crucial economy-wide tool for reducing emissions.\u201d &#8211; International Energy Agency, <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.iea.org\/reports\/net-zero-by-2050\"><em>Net Zero by 2050<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n<p>Some of the things that banks should be supporting with the money they now give to fossil fuels:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Massive investments in energy efficiency,<\/strong> so we can get more out of the energy we use.<em> <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.efficiencycanada.org\/\"><em>Efficiency Canada<\/em><\/a><em> has some great ideas on how to do this.&nbsp;<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Wind and solar power<\/strong> (now the cheapest form of generation) alongside batteries and smarter controls to green the grid.<em> <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/indigenouscleanenergy.com\/\"><em>Indigenous Clean Energy<\/em><\/a><em> is showing us how we can build community-based renewable energy projects that support true reconciliation. <\/em>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Heat pumps to heat and cool our homes, offices and factories. <\/strong>Your bank should be helping you finance one for your own home (<em>the federal government is already <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nrcan.gc.ca\/energy-efficiency\/homes\/canada-greener-homes-grant\/start-your-energy-efficient-retrofits\/plan-document-and-complete-your-home-retrofits\/eligible-grants-for-my-home-retrofit\/23504\"><em>helping with rebates<\/em><\/a><em> that make it easier to go green and save on your energy bills<\/em>).&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Electrified transportation systems<\/strong> that don\u2019t just replace existing gas-powered cars with electric ones, but also provide more and better (electrified) public transit in cities redesigned to be easier and safer to get to where you need to be by walking or on your electric bike. <em>Check out Greenpeace\u2019s <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/climate-solutions.greenpeace.org.au\/solution\/greener-transport\/index.html\"><em>Greener Transport<\/em><\/a><em> page for ideas.<\/em>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Electric arc furnaces<\/strong> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/toronto\/ontario-climate-change-steel-co2-greenhouse-gas-emissions-1.6353814\">make greener steel<\/a>, and <strong>new processes to produce chemicals or reusable alternatives to plastics, <\/strong>without fossil fuels.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Protecting and restoring nature.<\/strong> We need to improve the biodiversity and ecological integrity of our forests so they can become carbon sinks again, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/story\/50452\/forest-offsets-could-doom-canadas-climate-ambitions-and-the-cop-heres-why\/\">not simply as \u201coffsets<\/a>\u201d that enable the ongoing use of fossil fuels.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p><strong>We have the climate solutions we need \u2013 we just need to put people to work building them and that will require big investments.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>Right now the banks \u2013 by continuing to put 99% of their energy finance into fossil fuels \u2013 are a part of the problem. If they won\u2019t do it on their own, then we should demand that our elected officials <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shiftaction.ca\/news\/sustainablefinanceroadmap\">make them be part of the solution<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<section\n\t\t\tclass=\"boxout  \"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\tdata-ga-category=\"Take Action Boxout\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-ga-action=\"Image\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-ga-label=\"n\/a\"\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"cover-card-overlay\"\n\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/act.greenpeace.ca\/en-ca\/rbc-funding-fossil-fuels\" \n\t\t\t><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2023\/02\/bdcff821-banks_rbc_socialshare-1-1024x576.webp\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsrcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2023\/02\/bdcff821-banks_rbc_socialshare-1-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2023\/02\/bdcff821-banks_rbc_socialshare-1-1024x576.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2023\/02\/bdcff821-banks_rbc_socialshare-1-768x432.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2023\/02\/bdcff821-banks_rbc_socialshare-1-1536x864.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2023\/02\/bdcff821-banks_rbc_socialshare-1-510x287.webp 510w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2023\/02\/bdcff821-banks_rbc_socialshare-1.webp 1600w\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 358px, (min-width: 780px) 313px, 88px\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\talt=\"\" title=\"\"\n\t\t\t\t\/>\n            \t\t\t<div class=\"boxout-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"boxout-heading medium\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-ga-category=\"Take Action Boxout\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-ga-action=\"Title\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-ga-label=\"n\/a\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/act.greenpeace.ca\/en-ca\/rbc-funding-fossil-fuels\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tCall out the world&#8217;s #1 Oil Bank\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"boxout-excerpt\">Join us to grow the movement! Tell the world&#8217;s top fossil bank to stop funding fossils and to respect Indigenous rights.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t                                    <a\n                        class=\"btn btn-primary\"\n                        data-ga-category=\"Take Action Boxout\"\n                        data-ga-action=\"Call to Action\"\n                        data-ga-label=\"n\/a\"\n                        href=\"https:\/\/act.greenpeace.ca\/en-ca\/rbc-funding-fossil-fuels\"\n                        \n                    >\n                        Add your name\n                    <\/a>\n                \t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/section>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RBC claims to be committed to climate action, yet Canada\u2019s largest bank (and the fifth largest financier of fossil fuels in the world) is allocating a mere 1% of its&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":47218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"RBC is putting 99% of its energy finance into fossil fuels: Here\u2019s what they should fund instead","p4_og_description":"RBC claims to be committed to climate action, yet Canada\u2019s largest bank (and the fifth largest financier of fossil fuels in the world) is allocating a mere 1% of its energy finance to renewable energy.\u00a0","p4_og_image":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2023\/02\/c0842e09-dsc6511-1024x681-1.jpeg","p4_og_image_id":"57701","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"not set","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[23,25,32],"p4-page-type":[16],"class_list":["post-57198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","tag-climate","tag-energysolutions","tag-oil","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57198"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60743,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57198\/revisions\/60743"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57198"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=57198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}