Robert Soutar’s Post

Barclays’ $2bn coal loans exposure “enormous loophole” in its climate policy Barclays helped raise nearly $2bn for companies running highly polluting coal-fired power plants in the US, exposing an “enormous loophole” in its (already lacklustre) climate policy. As part of its “strategy to reach net zero”, the bank has committed to stop financing companies that make more than half their revenues from coal-fired power. Already not exactly a high bar. Last year, however, Barclays helped raise $1.7bn for coal-fired power companies that appear to exceed that threshold, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and ITV News revealed last week. Among these deals were two $400m loans for Monongahela Power, which generates 95% of its electricity from burning coal at two huge plants in West Virginia. The company only sells electricity that it generates itself, suggesting that the vast majority of its revenues are from coal-fired power. Barclays, however, said its policy only prohibits financing for companies that make more than 50% of revenues specifically from generating coal-fired power; and that TBIJ’s calculations did not account for these companies’ revenues from transmitting and distributing that power. https://lnkd.in/eq3b2pNS #naughtylist #barclays #coal #decarbonisation #banking #emissions

Barclays helped raise nearly $2bn for companies running highly polluting coal-fired power plants in the US – exposing a big loophole in its climate policy. As part of its strategy to reach net zero, the bank committed to stop financing companies that make more than half their revenues from coal-fired power. But it turns out that, in the last year, Barclays helped raise $1.7bn for coal-fired power companies that appear to exceed that threshold. One of those companies is Monongahela Power, which generates 95% of its electricity from burning coal. Barclays helped raise $800m for Mon Power but insists that’s fine because its policy only prohibits financing for companies that make more than half of revenues from generating coal-fired power – not from transmitting and distributing that power. This technicality makes its climate policy “meaningless,” according to one analyst at the IEEFA think tank. Investigation published with ITV News. #Barclays #greenwashing #climate #environment #greenfinance

Barclays’ continued financing of coal in breach of its own financing policies is further evidence that financial institutions cannot be left to drive the climate transition by themselves – policymakers urgently need to step in. Transition finance could help fast-track the shift to a clean economy, helping to fund the decarbonisation of highly polluting sectors. But to be effective, there must be frameworks in place to ensure finance is flowing to companies that are genuinely becoming more sustainable and not those merely pretending to be. Our recommended guardrails give policymakers robust standards to restore integrity to transition finance and ensure capital is going to the right places:

"The decline of traditional fossil fuel lending shows public pressure and tightening disclosure regulations are beginning to bite. However, the drop is also the clearest signal that fossil-fuel exclusion policies are accelerating the shift of oil, gas, and coal assets to less transparent corners of the capital market, which means climate-conscious regulators will need to play catch-up to meet globally agreed net-zero targets." Read Peter McKillop's thoughts on how other sources of capital will fill the gap left as commercial bank lending to oil and gas shrinks. https://lnkd.in/eNSwpEji Climate & Capital Media Climate Group Green Central Banking Rainforest Action Network, ExxonMobil, Shell, Tom B.K. Goldtooth, Indigenous Environmental Network, Chevron Pioneer,  Hess Corporation Mizuho, MUFG #climatechange #climatenews #climatechangenews #climatechangeeducation #climateinvesting #climateeconomy #climatefinance #climateesg #climatefuture #climatejobs #esg #esgnews #esgreporting #esgjobs #esgusa #esgeconomy #esgfinance #esginvesting #usa #usaeconomy #joebiden #usajobs #jobs #linkedin #linkedinjobs #climatejobs #greenjobs #linkedinnews #news #breakingnews #greeneconomy #greeninvesting #cleareconomy  #oilandgas #oilindustry #gasindustry #oil #gas #oileconomy #worldeconomy #globaleconomy #finance #economy #investing

Did you know that Barclays helped raise nearly $2bn for companies running highly polluting coal-fired power plants in the US – exposing an enormous loophole in its climate policy? Barclays promised to stop funding companies that make more than half their revenues from coal-fired power. But it turns out that last year it helped raise $1.7bn for coal-fired power companies that appear to exceed that threshold. One of those companies is Monongahela Power, which generates 95% of its electricity from burning coal. Barclays helped it raise $800m but says that’s fine because its policy only prohibits financing for companies that make more than half of revenues from generating coal-fired power – rather than transmitting and distributing that power. That “enormous loophole” makes Barclay’s climate policy “meaningless,” according to an analyst at the IEEFA think tank. (Investigation published with ITV News) #Barclays #greenwashing #climate #environment #greenfinance

Although the Sierra Club and the Rainforest Action Network annual report shows a slight decline in banks’ financing for oil, gas and coal since 2021, over $700B in loans & underwriting still flowed into fossil fuel companies last year from 60 of the world’s largest private banks.

As climate concerns rise, banks are increasingly wary of fossil fuel deals, leaving private credit to fill the gap. Private credit completed over $9 billion in oil and gas financings in 2022 and 2023, a $450 million increase from the preceding two years. With climate regulations expected to tighten in the coming years, it’s clear that alternative lenders will play a pivotal role in the evolving energy landscape. 

The world's largest banks collectively provided more than $705 billion to fossil fuel companies and projects in 2023, with almost half of them increasing their financial reserves for the sector year-on-year. This is the main conclusion of the new annual report "Banking on Climate Chaos", which was prepared by eight environmental non-governmental organizations and evaluates the activities of 60 banks. The estimate is based on transactions reported by financial market data providers. The top three financiers included JPMorgan Chase & Co. ($40.88 billion), Mizuho ($37 billion) and Bank of America ($33.68 billion). The financing provided in 2023 directed almost half ($347.5 billion) to companies expanding coal and #oil and #gas production and transportation capacities, including Eni and Transmountain Oil Co. #oilgas #oilandgasindustry #banks #climatechanges #climate

🇬🇧 The Bank of England is subsidising fossil fuel companies through its collateral framework, according to a report from Positive Money. The central bank supplies reserves for financial institutions through several ways, including short and long-term lending facilities. These programmes allow participants to borrow reserves in exchange for collateral, such as bonds and debt issued by corporations. Positive Money estimates that the BoE has allocated £165bn to lenders since 2014 through one of these schemes, the indexed long-term repo facility. The report found that some of the bonds that are accepted by the BoE include oil companies Shell and TotalEnergies, coal producer BHP Group and mining giant Rio Tinto. This ultimately gives these sectors a “hidden subsidy”, said Ellie McLaughlin, a senior policy and advocacy officer at Positive Money. GreenCB.co/433I50v #bankofengland #climatechange

Private credit managers are doing significantly more fossil-fuel deals now than just a few years ago, as they step into a void left by banks exiting assets they worry pose too big a climate risk. Thevalue of private credit deals in the oil and gas industry topped $9 billion in the 24 months through 2023, up from $450 million arranged in the preceding two years, according to data provided #FossilFuels #Privatecredit