Adam Ramsay: The world burns and the richest profit. It doesn’t have to be this way / Banks are incentivised to fund climate chaos

By Dilip -
The last time there was open war between major European powers was in 1945. The last time the Northern Hemisphere was this hot was probably 125,000 years ago. Yet the FTSE 100 is worth more than ever, corporate profits are higher than ever, there are more British billionaires than ever. And oil companies are richer than ever. If we took climate change seriously, the petroleum industry would be bankrupt. These firms borrow billions against the future value of reserves they are yet to drill, but atmospheric physics demands we can’t burn that carbon if we wish civilisation to survive.

If our modern societies are to continue to exist in recognisable form, oil companies’ assets are worthless. And if we aren’t, they are still worthless...




The world’s largest banks are investing billions into heavily polluting industries, despite publicly endorsing measures intended to combat the climate crisis. The banking system is being financially incentivised to prioritise the still-profitable oil, gas and coal industries over long-term investments in emerging renewable technologies – and is likely to continue doing so without strict political oversight.

In March, a report entitled ‘Banking on Climate Chaos’ revealed that, despite the use of cynical PR tactics and attempts to ‘offset’ carbon emissions through carbon reduction initiatives, the 60 largest private banks in the world had poured $4.6tn (£3.8tn) into fossil fuels since the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Barclays Bank, according to the report, had provided the equivalent of £4.1bn for new fossil fuel projects between January 2021 and the COP26 summit in November 2021. JP Morgan Chase, however, was named as the most egregious polluter, with over $382bn in new fossil fuel investments between 2016 and 2021. The bank had set a number of misleading decarbonisation targets the previous year, pledging to reduce the intensity of its emissions, a measure that still permitted overall future fossil fuel investments to increase...

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/bank-fossil-fuel-investment-finance-climate-change/


Our leaders look climate change in the eyes, and shrug / Siberian heatwave led to new methane emissions / Terrifying documentary on US wildfires


Aseem Shrivastava: An Age gone blind // Mallika Bhanot - Char Dham Pariyojana: A High Risk Engineering Exercise


This obscure energy treaty is the greatest threat to the planet you’ve never heard of


Erin Brockovich - Plummeting sperm counts, shrinking penises: toxic chemicals threaten humanity


REBECCA SMITHERS - We Are Flushing Away Our Forests: Researchers warn that toilet paper is becoming unsustainable


David Cox - The planet's prodigious poo problem


Owen Jones: Why don’t we treat the climate crisis with the same urgency as coronavirus?


"DoD: At Least 126 Bases Report Water Contaminants Linked to Cancer, Birth Defects"


John Sentamu - It’s time to act against the oil companies causing death and destruction


Pius Mau Piailug, master navigator


Australia has a new left-leaning government


From Siberia to Australia: the age of fire is the bleakest warning yet


Footage of the legendary Australian night parrot, a bird not seen alive for a century

 

Travis Waldron - Brazil Is About To Show The World How A Modern Democracy Collapses


Jair Bolsonaro launches assault on Amazon rainforest protections


The Amazon is burning. The climate is changing. And we're doing nothing to stop it


MONEY TO BURN: Over 300 banks and investors back 6 of the world’s most harmful agribusinesses to the tune of $44bn


Matt Sheehan - Silent documentary on China's unspooling environmental disasters





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