British hedge fund billionaire Christopher Hohn has urged shareholders to vote against the directors of banks “who are hiding their exposure to climate risk”.
This was in response to a report by an environmental group InfluenceMap that found the world’s biggest financial companies provided US$740bn for fossil fuel production over the past two years and are lobbying to weaken sustainability finance policy.
“Any bank making a Net Zero promise whilst actively lobbying against necessary climate regulation - such as mandatory disclosure of borrowers’ emissions and climate action plans – is greenwashing," said Hohn.
The report examined the corporate lending, equity and bond underwriting and asset management activities of 30 financial companies, including Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LSE:LLOY) and HSBC Holdings PLC (LSE:HSBA). It said Lloyds has the largest equity exposure to fossil fuel production at 17%.
“There is a stark disconnect between what they say about climate change and what they’re actually doing,’’ said report author Eden Coates, referring broadly to the companies.
“If they are serious about achieving their net zero targets, they should set concrete and actionable short-term targets across all aspects of their operations.
The report said JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM). was the biggest enabler of fossil fuel financing with US$81bn in 2020-21, followed by Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) at US$69bn, according to the report.
The companies were offered the opportunity to review the analysis and provide feedback before the release, InfluenceMap said.