Jakarta – The 16th annual Banking on Climate Chaos report, released on Tuesday, 17 June, notes that USD 869 billion worth of financing is being channelled by 65 of the world’s largest banks to the coal, oil, and gas sectors by 2024. The report was compiled by eight environmental organisations, including Rainforest Action Network and Oil Change International.
The world’s financial institutions are listed as the prominent supporters of the fossil fuel industry. Ironically, this jumbo flow of funds continues even though, since the COP21 Glasgow Climate Summit in 2021 and the 2016 Paris Agreement, these banks have committed to stop financing ‘dirty’ energy.
David Tong, Oil Change International’s global industry campaign manager and co-author of the report, said: “By injecting a staggering USD 869 billion into fossil fuel financing in 2024 alone, the world’s largest banks fund the climate chaos that fossil fuel companies wreak on people and communities worldwide. Governments must step in and take urgent action to hold financial institutions accountable for their role in the climate crisis.”
“Despite their greenwashing and false promises, these banks continue to bankroll the expansion of the fossil fuel industry and the false solutions that deepen climate injustice, land grabbing, and human rights abuse,” said Tom BK Goldtooth, Executive Director of Indigenous Environmental Network.
US and Japanese banks dominate
Around USD 429 billion of the total financing was used directly for the expansion of new fossil projects, up sharply from the previous value of around USD 84.8 billion in 2023.
The companies that received the largest injection of expansion funds include Diamondback Energy (US) worth USD20.9 billion for oil and gas projects in Texas, Enbridge (Canada/US) worth USD16.5 billion for pipelines and the controversial T15 project, BP (UK) worth USD10.9 billion for LNG development and gas plants in 30 countries, Energy Transfer (US) worth USD7.8 billion for LNG and pipeline expansion, Duke Energy (US) worth USD7.1 billion, mostly for coal and gas.
US banks are the dominant players, contributing USD 289 billion, or nearly one-third of total global financing, through 2024. JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo are responsible for 21% of all financing in the fossil energy sector globally.
Japanese and European banks suspected of greenwashing
Japanese banks such as Mizuho, MUFG, and SMBC ranked as the 4th, 6th, and 11th largest financiers, with a total contribution of 12% of all funds recorded. Most of their funds went to fossil projects in the United States.
From Europe, Barclays led the way with USD 35.4 billion in financing, followed by Santander, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, and BNP Paribas, which channelled between USD 14 billion and USD 17.3 billion.
The report also highlights the roles of CITIC and the Bank of China as the largest financiers of global coal projects, at USD 22.3 billion and USD 18.8 billion, respectively, by 2024. These projects are mostly driven in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Despite progress in the clean energy sector, the World Economic Forum (WEF) in its Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2025 report warns that green energy capacity is still far from the target.
It noted that global renewable energy investment grew to USD2 trillion by 2024, double that of 2020. However, this still falls short of the USD5.6 trillion needed per year until 2030 to achieve global climate targets.
In addition, carbon emissions from the energy sector reached a record high of 37.8 billion tonnes of CO₂ in 2024, following a 2.2% increase in global energy consumption due to the massive electrification of data centres and artificial intelligence applications.
The coalition that authored the report urges strict regulation of bank financing practices and calls on the public to demand accountability from global financial institutions.
“The time for climate justice is now, and that means ending fossil fuel investments at source and holding banks and financial institutions accountable,” said Goldtooth. (Hartatik)
Banner photo: Image generated by OpenAI’s DALL·E via ChatGPT (2024)
