Finance
Bankers Making ESG Headlines Fail Deforestation Bar, Study Finds
- Financiers directed trillions to forest-risk supply chains
- Glasgow commitments will likely encounter greater scrutiny
Deforestation is responsible for 15% of the world’s carbon-dioxide emissions.
Photographer: Lula Sampaio/AFP/Getty Images
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Global banks and fund managers have directed trillions of dollars to businesses most exposed to deforestation, threatening to undermine their own commitments to slash greenhouse gas emissions, a new study concluded.
U.K.-based nonprofit Global Canopy tracks 500 companies and financial firms identified as playing a key role in deforestation, which is responsible for 15% of the world’s carbon-dioxide emissions. Its research shows that only 38% of financial firms have clear policies to address deforestation risks, after directing $5.5 trillion to companies in forest-risk supply chains in the half decade through 2020.