RBC

Canada needs to continue its progress toward a more sustainable financial system.

The campaign organized by Decolonial Solidarity, Change Course and Stand.Earth has drawn a mix of intrigue, skepticism and praise from organizers and academics who study Canadian social movements. Observers says it offers an example of how advocacy groups are testing out novel tactics to bring in new recruits in the fight against global warming.

In 2022, just 18 Bay Street firms pumped $1.4 trillion into coal, oil and gas exacerbating the climate crisis. In fact, if Bay Street were a country it would be the fifth largest polluter in the world, according to new findings from the University of Toronto.

As funding is sought by developers looking to address Canada's housing crisis, sustainability should be a key factor for financiers considering new projects.

Financial institutions have a key role to play in the transition to greener and more climate-resilient communities, but they must work harder if they're going to do so.

Because we live in a world that speaks with money, it is now more important than ever to embed climate justice and prioritize climate science in financial drivers and investment decisions.

An investigation into the boards of directors for Canada’s largest banks reveal that not only are the banks, themselves, deeply entrenched in fossil fuels — their leadership is, too.

Since the Paris Agreement was signed in late 2015, RBC, Scotiabank, TD, BMO and CIBC have pumped approximately $1.2 trillion into fossil fuel companies like Enbridge, TC Energy and Trans Mountain.

Indigenous leaders, climate activists and their allies from across the continent descended on Toronto on Thursday in an attempt to hold RBC leadership accountable for the bank’s decision to finance increased oil and gas expansion at the expense of local communities.

Banks could implement initiatives like Portland’s Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund focusing on investing in climate action with multiple benefits for communities battling the scourge of climate change.

To achieve a clean energy transition, financial institutions must take a radical, holistic and equitable approach.

Stubborn fossil fuel financing and severely out-of-step renewable investments mean Canadian banks are undermining climate progress.

That's according to a regulatory filing Trans Mountain Corp. provided to the Canada Energy Regulator on Monday. It represents the latest in a series of cost increases for the high-profile project, which in 2017 was estimated to cost just $7.4 billion.

This is an opportunity for young people across Canada to share their voices and visions for climate justice in the financial sector.

Canadian financial institutions have financed metallurgical coal, the kind used to make steel, to the tune of $20 billion even as greener alternatives are proven possible. With clean steel set to boom, those investments are at risk.