Canadian banks and investors – led by RBC – still funnel billions into coal
Despite Canada’s commitment to phasing out thermal coal electricity within eight years, Canadian banks are continuing to lend and invest more than USD$100 billion (CAD$127.23 billion) to coal-related companies, including in Canada, according to a new report out of Germany that tracks investment information on thermal coal from 600 financial institutions worldwide.
The findings, from Urgewald, also show that RBC is one of Canada’s biggest backers of thermal coal, with almost USD$11 billion (CAD$14 billion) of lending and financing to coal related companies, and holding USD$6.5 billion (CAD$8.3 billion) in bonds and shares.
“While communities across Canada and around the world experience devastating climate impacts from fires to floods, Canada’s fossil banks continue to finance coal-related companies to the tune of roughly $100 billion. In 2022, RBC financing fossil fuels while spouting sustainability is like handing out cigarettes while warning about the dangers of smoking,” said Richard Brooks with Stand.earth. “From financing coal, the dirtiest fuel on the planet, to greenwashing attempts, to financing Coastal GasLink’s violence against Indigenous land defenders, RBC finds itself on the wrong side of history. Time for RBC to drop coal exposed companies and phase out financing of oil and gas.”
Urgewald’s findings show that RBC is the only financial institution in Canada to make the top three of both Canada rankings in lending and investing in coal related companies.
| Lending & Underwriting of Canadian banks to GCEL 2021, in million USD (2019-21) | |||
| Loans | Underwriting | Total | |
| Non-Canadian Companies | USD 20,326
CAD 25861.68 |
USD 21,068
CAD 26805.76 |
USD 41,394
CAD 52667.45 |
| Canadian Companies | USD 4,773
CAD 6072.90 |
USD 3,531
CAD 4492.65 |
USD 8,304
CAD 10565.55 |
| Coal Related Companies | USD 2,969
CAD 3777.59 |
USD 2,097
CAD 2668.11 |
USD 5,066
CAD 6445.70 |
| Coal Related Companies – RBC | USD 609
CAD 774.86 |
USD 444
CAD 564.92 |
USD 1,052
CAD 1338.51 |
|
Bond- and Shareholdings of Canadian investors to GCEL 2021, in million USD (Nov-21) |
|||
| Bondholding | Shareholding | Total | |
| Non-Canadian Companies | USD 7,473
CAD 9508.23 |
USD 31,354
CAD 39893.11 |
USD 38,827
CAD 49401.34 |
| Canadian Companies | USD 2,371
CAD 3016.73 |
USD 9,509
CAD 12098.73 |
USD 11,880
CAD 15115.46 |
| Coal Related Companies | USD 9,844
CAD 12524.96 |
USD 40,775
CAD 51879.87 |
USD 50,619
CAD 64404.83 |
| Coal Related Companies Developers – RBC | USD 1,203
CAD 1530.63 |
USD 5,379
CAD 6843.94 |
USD 6,582
CAD 8374.57 |
The Global Coal Exit List is maintained by Urgewald. It is the most comprehensive list of coal related and coal exposed companies in the world and relied upon by more than 600 financial institutions to inform their financing and investment of energy sector companies. More info can be found at: https://coalexit.org/about-us
See more photos from this action at RBC’s Toronto headquarters here.