If you are invested in fossil fuel companies then the current news about continued profits, healthy dividends and record incomes will give you comfort. On the other hand, if you are a concerned citizen about climate change the news is foreboding. The industry is making out like a bandit enabled by loans and financial guarantees from banking institutions around the planet while global temperatures and sea levels climb and extreme weather events are more frequent and worse.
Since 2015 the 60 largest banks have poured US $6.9 trillion into fossil fuel projects. In 2023 alone the amount was $705 billion. It is this behaviour that is a major impediment for us to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Banks are continuing to encourage the industry which in turn is greenwashing the public about being environmentally responsible members of the global community.
