BankTrack

🍃On International Biodiversity Day, BankTrack urges all banks to take the ‘Road to Cali’ and make firm public commitments to help protect #nature and #biodiversity before the start of COP16 in Cali, Colombia this October. The new campaign seeks #banks to ❗ take action ❗ by ending all finance to clients and sectors that cause catastrophic biodiversity loss. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/diWkG_D4 #roadtocali

🚨Het College van de Rechten van de Mens tikt ING op de vingers vanwege discriminatie. ING blokkeerde namelijk transacties, alleen maar omdat er Arabisch klinkende namen bijstonden.[1] En het probleem is veel groter: raciale discriminatie komt veel vaker voor bij banken! Uit onderzoek blijkt dat 32% van de mensen met een niet-westerse migratieachtergrond zich gediscrimineerd voelde door banken in de afgelopen twee jaar. "Mensen voelen zich onder meer gediscrimineerd bij het openen van een rekening, het doen of ontvangen van betalingen, en/of het aanvragen van een hypotheek." [2] Hey ING, hoe gaan jullie dit rechtzetten? [1] https://lnkd.in/dNQDjvAR [2] https://lnkd.in/dgatypsK

Are oil and gas companies getting prepared for a world where it will be hard for them to raise money? Our research shows that TotalEnergies is currently trying to secure some financing for the decades to come.. thanks to its investors. Reclaim Finance - ONG has identified the investors who participated in TotalEnergies’ latest bond issuance, a US$4.25 billion bond package from last April. 👉 The asset managers with the largest investments are Vanguard, BlackRock and Capital Group (more than $394 million in total). 👉 In the European Union, TotalEnergies' investors for this deal are Germany's Deutsche Bank and Union Investment, France's Groupe BPCE, BNP Paribas and Groupe Crédit Agricole/Amundi, and the Netherlands' Aegon and Robeco. The amount raised is dedicated to “general corporate purposes” and can be used by TotalEnergies as the company sees fit, such as its plans to develop new oil and gas projects in 53 countries, including Mozambique, Papua New Guinea and South Africa (aka the public company developing the most new oil and gas production projects in the world). These investments are key for TotalEnergies, enabling it to secure financing for decades to come. Bonds account for 70% of TotalEnergies' financing sources between 2016 and 2023. Two key points worth attention: 👉 The length of these bonds, that stretches until 2064! By agreeing to lend money to TotalEnergies for ever longer periods, without any conditions on the company's climate strategy, these investors are giving their unconditional support to the major for decades to come. It could be seen as an active bet against the transition! 👉 Groupe Crédit Agricole and BNP Paribas seem to have double standards: while they now refuse to help structure the bonds of companies like TotalEnergies, their subsidiaries (Amundi and BNP Paribas Asset Management) continue to invest in these same bonds. Article in the comments.

Together with Reclaim Finance - ONG, SteelWatch, and the Fair Steel Coalition, we sent letters to the 20 largest banks financing ArcelorMittal regarding urgent human rights and climate concerns... But one month later, not a single bank has responded substantially. Banks can, and must do better when frontline communities come forward with human rights concerns. Read more from us here 👇 https://lnkd.in/e-UY3Mur

ING-rekeninghouders kunnen nu in de app zien hoeveel uitstoot er gepaard gaat met iedere ieniemienie uitgave.* Ondertussen vertikt ING het al jaren om de volledige uitstoot van het bedrijf te rapporteren. ING zegt dat diens uitstoot 57Mt is. Dat is net zoveel als en land als Zweden. Maar onafhankelijk onderzoek schat ING's uitstoot 4-5 keer hoger.** Dit komt omdat ING veel uitstoot niet benoemd. Heel jammer om te zien hoe een van de meest invloedrijke en vervuilendste bedrijven van ons land der bal doorkaatst naar de consument... Kun je ook niet wachten tot ING echte actie onderneemt? Wordt dan nu mede-eiser van de Klimaatzaak van Milieudefensie tegen ING! 👉 https://lnkd.in/eEbvNpGB * https://lnkd.in/eZ3ud567 ** https://lnkd.in/e_QkgxzA

After a long wait, the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) has published its guidance for how banks can help decarbonize the steel sector. In a telling result, it lacks robust requirements for target design or broader steel sector policies needed in banks’ just transition plans towards a fossil-free future. Read Reclaim Finance - ONG and BankTrack's breakdown of the new guidance here: https://bit.ly/NZBASteel

Today, together with 31 other organisations from the US Gulf South, Europe, Japan and elsewhere, we are publishing a letter demanding European and Japanese banks to rule out financing for LNG infrastructure projects in the US Gulf South Coast. Banks like ING, Intesa Sanpaolo, Deutsche Bank, Mizuho, MUFG, Groupe Crédit Agricole and Banco Santander have poured billions of dollars into LNG projects & companies in the Gulf South, contributing to human rights violations, environmental degradation and environmental racism. We call on banks to: - Rule out direct financing for LNG projects in the Gulf South Coast - Provide remedies and compensation for harm done - Introduce a policy excluding financing for all midstream projects and companies expanding the LNG sector. The letter is published on the same day that nearly 200 community organisers and frontline leaders from the Gulf South are leading a massive march to Citibank’s headquarters in New York as part of the “Summer of Heat” Gulf South Solidarity Week. To emphasise the importance of the letter and to make sure they could not ignore us, we went to ING's HQ to personally hand over the letter. The letter was well received but what really matters is whether ING is finally going to take action & stop financing LNG in the Gulf South. https://lnkd.in/er6KHXxF

Today, in solidarity with affected communities and activists in Uganda, Tanzania and the DRC, we visited the Chinese Embassy in The Hague, the Netherlands, calling on the Embassy to urge Chinese financial institutions to rule out support for the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). The day started off with Ugandan and Tanzanian CSOs and affected community members leading the way with peaceful demonstrations. Unfortunately, in Uganda a mass arrest of approximately 30 peaceful demonstrators has taken place. By now, 27 major commercial banks and 28 insurers have ruled out support for the project. TotalEnergies is now desperately looking to China and its (state-owned) banks and insurance firms to fill the funding gap. The actions among others target the China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (SINOSURE), The Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim Bank), and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), who are expected to take a decision on support for the project by June. While all but one Chinese Embassy refused to accept materials, we still ask them to urge the Chinese state & financial institutions to: - Listen to the concerns of communities in Uganda & Tanzania; - Refuse financing for EACOP; - Publicly rule out support for this controversial pipeline. Read the press release for more information about the actions and for more videos and photos: https://lnkd.in/eHaFm2im

Why is the foundation of certificate holders of Rabobank and the bank itself denying us the opportunity to speak on the bank’s fossil finance impacts instead of pushing the bank to #StopBarossaGas? Today, we wanted to attend the annual meeting of Rabobank certificate holders to inform them about Rabobank's financing of the floating production vessel used for the Barossa Gas Project in Australia & to ask the bank’s CFO to bring up the project & related issues to management However, the Foundation for certificate holders denied us the opportunity to speak, arguing that the meeting is only for discussing the bank's annual results and certificate prices. Our response: Certificate holders should care about more than just returns. Rabobank's financing of harmful projects like Barossa has created climate chaos & human rights violations. It has a responsibility to act, not just on certificate prices, but also on the impacts of its financing. Certificate holders should also hold them to that responsibility. The Barossa Gas project, led by Santos SK E&S and Jera, has faced significant opposition from the First Nations people of the Tiwi Islands due to concerns over environmental & cultural impacts. Legal challenges from the Tiwi Islanders have caused over a year in delays, increasing project costs. Tiwi Elders Therese Wokay Bourke and Pirrawayingi wanted to address the certificate holders & the bank in a statement. The statement reads among others: “For you, this is just a transaction. But for us, this is our lives. Your bank should comply with your own human rights policy” The statement further reads: "we would like to invite the CEO of Rabobank to the Tiwi Islands to connect with where your money is going. It makes no sense that you would pay for something when you haven’t even been to the place that you are having an impact on for generations to come." Rabobank should pull its financing for the Barossa Gas FPSO now! #StopBarossaGas Support the Tiwi Elders in their fight against the Barossa gas project and Santos: https://lnkd.in/eePedw5T https://lnkd.in/e2PaKc-G

WEBINAR: Why financing the industrial livestock industry is a bad idea for banks? Join us on June 27th. During the webinar, the experts from Friends of the Earth US, Profundo and Feedback will dive into the intricate web of global financial flows from top global and U.S. #banks to the largest #meat, #dairy, and #feed #corporations worldwide. Agenda: 🟥 Introduction to the webinar (Ola Aleksandra Janus, BankTrack ) 🟧Overview of the global livestock industry (Martin Bowman, Feedback Global)  🟨Introduction of the "Bull in the Climate Shop" report (Monique Mikhail, Friends of the Earth) 🟩Research methodology (Ward Warmerdam, Profundo) 🟦Q&A session Register here: https://lnkd.in/egh4pkgN The webinar will present the findings of the two recent reports:   🟢 Friends of the Earth’s report, “Bull in the Climate Shop”  https://lnkd.in/d2maKTUB 🔴 Feedback Global’s report, “Still Butchering the Planet”, both using research conducted by Profundo. https://lnkd.in/dUaYVKwV