Big Banks Pamper Fossil Fuel Sector With Cash

Oil, gas and coal companies not only made record profits in 2022 but were also able to count on continued strong support from banks, including for new projects, Marc Angrand reported for Le Monde.

Photo Insert: The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has risen as a major fossil fuel financier.

This is the conclusion drawn by seven NGOs in the annual report "Banking on Climate Chaos" (BOCC) published on April 13.

Sixty global banks put the total financing obtained by the top 100 players in the fossil fuel sector over the past seven years at $5.5 trillion (€5.04 trillion.) For 2022 alone, their tally reached $673 billion.

The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has risen as a major fossil fuel financier. With $42.1 billion, it has surpassed four major US banks: JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Citigroup.

However, this $673 billion was down by 16% compared to 2021, and for the first time, bank financing to fossil fuel producers was below the 2016 level.

For NGOs, this decline is explained by the surge in profits (at $4 trillion), which has allowed coal, oil and gas companies to finance themselves and rely less on banks. For some of them, this means they can do without banks and markets altogether.

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