Bank of America appears to be reversing its pledge to end lending to Coal and Arctic drilling projects, new york times It was reported on Saturday.
In December 2021, financial services companies pledged to stop direct financing of new coal-fired power plants, thermal coal mines, and Arctic drilling. It also noted that it would no longer directly fund expansions of existing projects.
the””environmental and social risk policy framework;“By 2025, we will phase out all lending (including facilitating capital market transactions and advising on mergers and acquisitions) to companies that derive more than 25% of their revenue from thermal coal mining.” said. The deal could help the company diversify its operations away from thermal coal, provided it can align its operations (across Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions) with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. ”
“It will not directly finance oil exploration or production activities in the Arctic,” the framework added.
December 2023 updated version Bank of America’s Environmental and Social Risk Policy Framework appears to backtrack on those commitments, saying it will conduct “due diligence” on projects.
“Customers and transactions involving direct financing of oil and gas exploration and production activities in the Arctic must be escalated to a senior-level risk committee for determination,” the updated framework explains. .
“As part of our enhanced due diligence process, we are considering whether a company has a commitment to aligning its operations with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, and this transaction will significantly increase the diversification of a company’s operations away from thermal coal. “It will encourage the development of the economy,” he added.
Initiatives related to new coal mining or expansion of existing coal mining will also be escalated to the bank’s risk committee.
The latest framework rescinds the bank’s pledge to “phase out all financing” for new coal projects by 2025, and instead calls for the company to “phase out all such financing by 2025.” “We are on track to abolish it.”
Lucy Pinson of Reclaim Finance told the Times that Bank of America’s decision to backtrack on previous commitments “sends a very bad signal that it’s OK to accept new fossil fuel assets.” “I’m working on it,” he said.
Bank of America said in a statement to the Times that “high-risk projects continue to undergo enhanced due diligence processes, including senior-level risk reviews.”
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