{"id":199150,"date":"2021-11-15T12:00:21","date_gmt":"2021-11-15T12:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=199150"},"modified":"2021-11-09T06:05:11","modified_gmt":"2021-11-09T06:05:11","slug":"hsbc-led-big-banks-charge-against-climate-change-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/11\/hsbc-led-big-banks-charge-against-climate-change-action\/","title":{"rendered":"HSBC Led Big Banks\u2019 Charge against Climate Change Action"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Extinction Rebellion protestors outside a high-street bank in 2019.
Credit: Nick Beer \/ Alamy<\/p><\/div>\n

8 Nov 2021 – <\/em>HSBC coordinated efforts to try and water down action on climate change in the banking sector by seeking to delay a key deadline and scrap mandatory science-based targets for a major net-zero alliance, the Bureau can reveal.<\/p>\n

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These appeals came in an email sent from the office of HSBC\u2019s chief executive to the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), an initiative launched by Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England. The NZBA brings together more than 50 banks, including HSBC, Bank of America, Barclays and Santander, requiring them to set a target to cut carbon emissions from their lending and investment portfolios to net zero by 2050, as well as setting an interim target for 2030.<\/p>\n

The email, which was sent on behalf of a group of 12 banks, said they should have three years from signing the NZBA commitment \u2013 rather than 18 months \u2013 before setting their 2030 target. It tried to further weaken the commitment by discarding a requirement for science-based targets.<\/p>\n

Natasha Landell-Mills, head of stewardship at Sarasin & Partners, an investment firm that manages \u00a319.3bn of assets and holds HSBC shares on behalf of clients, said: \u201cAny evidence that HSBC has lobbied against robust action on climate change would be concerning.\u201d She said that she would like more information about the context and \u201cwould then look to take the appropriate action.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a climate crisis that we need to address,\u201d added Landell-Mills, \u201cand the more we have banks pushing back on policies and regulations that are intended to accelerate action to combat climate change, the slower that action will be and all of us would suffer as a result.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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