Banks have pumped hundreds of billions into fossil fuels

4 September 2023

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New ActionAid International report finds that HSBC and Barclays have pumped hundreds of billions of pounds in finance into fossil fuels and agribusinesses since the Paris Agreement.

A new report from ActionAid International and independent research organisation, Profundo, has revealed that banks, including HSBC and Barclays, have put $3.2 trillion towards the expansion of fossil fuels since the 2015 Paris Agreement, with $370 billion being funneled towards unsustainable farming practices.

Along with environmental degradation, How the Finance Flows report also found that funding from UK high street banks is causing mass human rights violations in 134 countries across the Global South, including in those where ActionAid works. 

HSBC has provided over $80bn (£62bn) in financing toward fossil fuels and industrial agriculture during this period, the worst of any bank in Europe. The report also found that Barclays has provided $41.1bn (£32.15bn) in financing for both over the same period and remains Europe’s largest financial of fossil fuels. 

Hannah Bond, Deputy Director of Advocacy at ActionAid UK, said:

"UK banks are continuing to underwrite climate chaos. From Brazil to Ghana, vast sums of money from British banks are being poured directly into countries where we work, causing mass devastation to entire communities. Despite contributing less than 2% to global emissions, countries across the Global South are bearing the brunt of decisions being made in boardrooms far away.

"British people shouldn’t be forced to bankroll HSBC and Barclays’ climate-wrecking behaviour just because they bank with them. It’s time these banks faced up to the chaos they are causing and end their investments in fossil fuels and agribusiness now."

The report found the staggering level of funding HSBC is providing to fossil fuel companies and agribusinesses in 134 countries across the Global South.

Chart showing banks and fossil fuels investments

In Ghana, where ActionAid works, finance from the bank has already displaced Indigenous communities, decreased food and livelihood resources for local fisher people, and resulted in air pollution and seawater degradation.  

HSBC is the largest bank financing agribusiness, providing US$17.2 billion in financing between 2016 and 2022. HSBC also provides significant financing to Marfrig (US$861 million) and Minerva foods (US$581 million), two of the largest beef processing companies operating in Brazil, whose supply chains are strongly linked to deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon and the Cerrado biome.  

The report found that Barclays is the largest funder of TotalEnergies in the Global South, providing US$2.1 billion since 2016. The French oil and gas giant is behind several controversial projects, including the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). It is also leading the development of Mozambique LNG, which has displaced hundreds of families without adequate compensation. 

On the agribusiness side, Barclays is the largest international financier (US$900 million since 2016) of JBS, a Brazilian company that is the world’s biggest meatpacking company, and a key supplier to fast-food companies such as McDonald’s and Burger King, as well as retail giants such as Carrefour, Asda and Walmart. JBS is a huge emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, while various investigations have documented the company’s links to illegal deforestation, land grabbing, slave labour and money laundering in Brazil. 

Despite global banks’ public declarations that they are addressing climate change, the scale of their continued fossil fuel and industrial agriculture financing is simply staggering. The report found that since the Paris Agreement, banks have provided 20 times more financing to fossil fuels and agriculture activities in the Global South than Global North governments have provided as climate finance to countries on the front lines of the climate crisis. 

Hannah Bond said: "The current piecemeal commitments these banks have made to act on climate change are not even worth the paper they’re written on.  No more fobbing off the British public, it’s time to stop funding climate breakdown."

ActionAid’s report calls on banks to divert funding away from fossil fuels and agribusinesses and towards sustainable solutions that protect the environment and human rights. 

Hannah Bond continued: “Even as the world stands on the brink of climate catastrophe, banks are only interested in lining their pockets while the planet burns. Our future is on the line – banks must rapidly phase out all financing of all fossil fuel and industrial agriculture."

ENDS 

To contact the ActionAid UK Press Office email charlie.ensor@actionaid.org or call 07804494771. Spokespeople from the press release are available for interview on request.  

Notes to Editors
The research was in partnership with independent research organisation Profundo. 

About ActionAid 
https://www.actionaid.org.co.uk 
ActionAid is an international charity that works with women and girls living in poverty. Our dedicated local staff are changing the world with women and girls. We are ending violence and fighting poverty so that all women, everywhere, can create the future they want.