Royal Bank of Canada signage is pictured in the financial district in Toronto, Friday, Sept. 8, 2023. Royal Bank of Canada says it plans to ramp up its renewable energy funding as it reported little progress on reducing the emissions intensity of its oil and gas financing. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Lahodynskyj
TORONTO – Royal Bank of Canada says it plans to ramp up its renewable energy funding as it also reported little progress on reducing the emissions intensity of its oil and gas financing.
The bank says in its latest annual climate report out Wednesday that it has set a goal to triple renewable energy funding to $15 billion by 2030, and plans to direct $1 billion to climate solutions by the end of the decade.
It also disclosed that the emissions intensity of its oil and gas funding was “relatively flat” last year compared with a 2019 baseline, while its goal is to reduce the measure by between 11 and 35 per cent by the end of the decade.
The bank has maintained that it’s better to work with oil and gas companies to reduce their emissions intensity, even as they ramp up production, rather than cut off funding as demanded by some climate advocates.
RBC did not disclose in the report how its total amount of low-carbon energy funding compares to its fossil fuel financing, a key measure that it’s facing investor pressure to adopt.
BloombergNEF found RBC had directed about 37 cents to low carbon sources for every dollar to fossil fuels in 2022, while the research organization figures banks need to hit a minimum of $4 toward green options for each $1 to oil and gas by the end of the decade to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees C.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 6, 2024.
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