Public figures in perfectly-pressed suits were whisked through the sky via 118 private jets, pumping over 1,400 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Their destination? The 26th Conference of Parties.
Otherwise known as COP26.
Otherwise known as the annual global climate change conference.
Otherwise known as “the world’s best last chance” to fight the impending crisis.
While 1,400 tons of carbon dioxide seems insignificant compared to the 33 billion tons emitted globally this year, the fact that those emissions come from financiers taking private jets to a climate conference makes them especially problematic. Those emissions are only worth it if the destination paves the way to future emissions reductions.
From private jet flights to lofty sustainability commitments with few concrete steps for implementation, COP26 screamed business as usual or “blah, blah, blah” as environmental activist Greta Thunberg put it.
#COP26 has been named the must excluding COP ever.
This is no longer a climate conference.
This is a Global North greenwash festival.
A two week celebration of business as usual and blah blah blah.
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) November 4, 2021
A lot of that “blah, blah, blah” came from financial titans who attended the conference in record numbers, beating out the scientists and environmental activists who had dominated the guest list of previous COPs.
One of the most publicized outcomes of COP26 was the establishment of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ). The coalition commits 450 willing financial institutions, managing $130 trillion in assets, to push for net-zero emissions in their portfolios by 2050. This means that these managers will either pressure the companies they already invest in to reduce their emissions or they will divest to put their money in more sustainable companies.
$130 trillion in clean investments seems like a huge win and, to an extent, it is. It accounts for 40% of global financial assets. But before we celebrate, let’s examine the fine print.
Not all $130 trillion of those assets are going to be free of emissions. To predict the impact of GFANZ, we can look to one of its member groups entitled Net Zero Asset Managers. Despite its name, only a third of the member group’s assets are bound to net-zero pledges. It’s likely that the same will be true of GFANZ. Critics lament GFANZ’s pledge as “more like smoke and mirrors than real climate action.” The promise lacks teeth, with no concrete way to enforce a full phase-out of fossil fuels.
Despite the ballyhoo about GFANZ, inexplicably there’s no rule stopping any of that money from being invested in fossil fuels. Many of the banks have a history of funneling hundreds of billions of dollars into fossil fuel financing; some members, including HSBC and Deutsche Bank, currently support pipeline construction in Indigenous communities and oil drilling in the Amazon rainforest.
It seems as though coalition leaders accepted the tradeoff associated with convincing financial institutions to commit to net-zero: it’s worth reaching for greater investments in clean energy, even if it means letting fossil fuel investments slide.
GFANZ’s pledge reads more like a publicity stunt than meaningful change. Limiting warming to 1.5℃ is out of reach if capital is still funneled into an industry pumping carbon into our atmosphere.
Perhaps it will take yet another COP, with yet another thousand tons emitted by private jets, for leaders to require that investors fully divest from fossil fuels and manage their money in a way that puts planet before profit. We can do better than half-hearted pledges that look better on social media than they do for our future.
If these outcomes were the result of COP1, I would say that it’s a starting point. But it’s too late for a starting point now, in 2021.
It’s too late for lofty statements and grandiose commitments riddled with loopholes.
It’s too late for “blah, blah, blah.”
So where do we go from here?
Binding commitments that prohibit investment in fossil fuels are key for achieving climate goals. GFANZ leadership (looking at you, Mark Carney!) must take charge to ensure that alliance members actually fulfill their net-zero promises. No, not committing a third of their assets—committing ALL of their assets to advance a clean energy revolution.
Join a call to hold GFANZ members accountable by tweeting at UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, Mark Carney, @MarkJCarney. It’s about time that financial institutions stick to their word and end the flow of money to the industry that catalyzes the crisis of our future.
Creator: Andrew Parsons / No10 Downing St
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Credit: Andrew Parsons / No10 Downing St
Copyright: Crown Copyright