As nations around the world prepare to cap carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, more financial institutions are beginning to weigh the risks of lending money to big carbon emitters.
Yesterday, Bank of America posted a new, overdue coal policy on its website announcing it will phase out financing of mountaintop removal coal mining!
And five major international banks announced their intention to begin applying what they call "The Climate Principles" to the decision-making process for loans.
The banks are Crédit Agricole, HSBC, Munich Re, Standard Chartered and Swiss Re.
Oddly, these banks claim their Carbon Principles are the first comprehensive industry framework for addressing the causes of climate change.
However, in February 2008, Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley adopted The Carbon Principles to the same effect. Credit Suisse and Bank of America later joined this initiative.
Nonetheless, the new Climate Principles launched in association with The Climate Group–an assoiation of global businesses commited to reducing carbon emissions–is a welcomed announcement and an important step in forcing industry to account for the true cost of carbon emissions and their harm to the environment.
Learn more about how the Climate Principles work at the link below.
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