BankTrack

Today during the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, BankTrack is launching the fifth edition of its Global Human Rights Benchmark. The Benchmark assesses 50 of the world’s largest banks on their human rights policies, processes, practices and reporting. Here are a few key findings: 📝 42 out of 50 banks now have a policy commitment to respect human rights 💬 25 out of 50 banks consult some stakeholders as part of their Human Rights Due Diligence  🔧 6 out of 50 have a grievance mechanism for ppl affected by their finance 🧰 4 out of 50 show at least one example of supporting remedy ... and 0 out of 50 shows full commitment to meeting their responsibilities under the #UNGuidingPrinciples. These figures reflect some progress since our last report in 2022, but in a world facing urgent human rights challenges, it is not good enough, and remediation should be the norm, not the exception! This year’s Benchmark also assesses for the first time banks’ policies on Indigenous Peoples’ right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC); the protection of human rights defenders; and the human right to a healthy environment. While most banks give FPIC a mention, all of them lack sufficient safeguards here, and the other two areas are largely ignored. It’s time for banks to take action, and put processes in place to properly respect human rights! We call on banks to: 1. engage meaningfully with communities 2. respond meaningfully when human rights concerns are raised  3. report transparently and show how real impacts are being addressed 4. bridge the remedy gap and ensure accountability mechanisms are in place 5. put in place and strengthen safeguards to respect FPIC and human rights defenders 6. advocate for mandatory human rights due diligence to raise the bar for business Check out the media release and download the report here: https://lnkd.in/eCwgZuqC  The report's lead author is Giulia B., at the UN Forum in Geneva for its last day today! #UNForumBHR #bizhumanrights UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights  Nadia Bernaz Chiara Macchi Joanne Bauer Ashleigh Owens Emil Sirén Gualinga Thanks also to Josephine Chiname and Lucilla Viola for their contributions!

☝ Never let a bad thing go to waste… This European Hydrogen Week is a great opportunity to point out why #Hydrogen is definitely a green smokescreen and not the future. 6️⃣ Reasons why: 1. Most hydrogen is not renewable, nor low emission 2. Hydrogen is entangled with fossil fuel interests  3. Hydrogen gives the dangerous illusion of ‘business as usual’  4. Where other solutions exist, hydrogen is inefficient and costly 5. Hydrogen poses a threat to health and safety  6. Hydrogen can contribute to climate change Read our full brief on why you shouldn't be fooled by the hydrogen hype right here ⬇ We've made it worth your while! https://lnkd.in/grwZDhZg #climateaction #stopgas #EUH2Week

Last week, European banks once again enabled billions in financing for fossil fuel giants bp and TotalEnergies through bond issuances. These bonds signal long-term financial support for companies actively expanding oil and gas projects, which is contrary to the 1.5°C climate targets.

🌍 Don’t miss our "Banking on Climate Chaos: Europe" Training! 🌍 European banks are still financing the fossil fuel industry, fuelling climate destruction instead of solutions. Join us to: 💡 Explore findings from the Banking on Climate Chaos report. 🔥 Learn how banks enable fossil fuel expansion. 🎯 Get actionable tips to campaign for accountability. 📅 Date & Time: 4 December, 14:00 CET 🔗 Register here: bit.ly/bocceurope   Together, we can hold banks accountable and stop fossil fuel financing. Let’s take action! Co-organised with Urgewald.

The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) from Uganda to Tanzania has been seeking project finance from the banking sector since 2017. We have been working ever since then to support the many local civil society groups who are alarmed about this pipeline's impacts on their livelihoods, water and nature, as well as on our shared climate. Groups that are fighting to #StopEACOP. Recently, Uganda's Energy & Hydrocarbons Minister has been quoted in the media claiming that seven, or perhaps nine, European banks have agreed to finance the EACOP. The banks have not been named. In response, we investigated the largest 50 European banks. Of these, 13 had already said no to financing the EACOP. We found that a further eight have policies preventing finance for new oil pipelines. We wrote to the rest, together with partners from the region, and seven more banks told us they will not be financing the project. The largest European banks that have not yet said NO to #EACOP are: Lloyds Banking Group, UBS, CaixaBank, Danske Bank, Sberbank and Commerzbank AG. We would like to hear from them! https://lnkd.in/dktxTexc

As world leaders gather for the 29th UN Climate Change Conference this week, commercial banks are STILL financing new coal development.   As part of our #EndCoalFinance campaign with BankTrack, Recourse, Trend Asia and others, we identified 44 new coal power projects currently in the pipeline in Asia (where new coal development is concentrated) and the commercial banks most likely to finance them.   These "coal banks" are the focus of a new #EndCoalFinance website calling on the commercial banking sector to rule out financing for these and other new climate-wrecking coal projects.   🌏 www.endcoalfinance.org   As our research director Dustin Roasa says, these banks "must stop providing a lifeline to an industry that has caused such harm globally and to the people of Asia.”   https://lnkd.in/e9kQ3rD5 #COP29 #CoalBanks

📢  Join us online or in-person for the launch of this year’s #DontBuyIntoOccupation report! Discover how banks and other European financial institutions are involved in the illegal settlements and occupation of Palestine. 🗓️ Don’t miss the opportunity to dive into the report’s findings with a distinguished panel of experts: 👉 Dr. Tara Van Ho (Essex Law School) 👉 Francesca Albanese (UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories ) 👉 Jens Skancke Presthus, CAIA (KLP Asset Management) 👉 Rania Madi (Law for Palestine) 👉 Andrew Preston (Norwegian People’s Aid) 👉 Eva Gerritse (PAX) ✅ The discussion will focus on key challenges such as strengthening due diligence in conflict-affected areas, evaluating the role of ESG in safeguarding human rights, and defining third-party responsibilities in ensuring adherence to international humanitarian law. 📅 When: 26 november 2024 13.30 - 14.30 📍 Where: Geneva Press Club (Chem. de l'Impératrice 18, Geneva, Switzerland), or *online* Registration: https://t.ly/PaL5R #HRDD #BHR #BizHumanRights #InternationalLaw #IHL #UNGPs #Palestine #Gaza #humanrights #financialinstitutions

📣 New Dodgy Deal alert 📣 Glencore's recently acquired metallurgical coal mines in Canada have been polluting the water, and threatening the culture and livelihood of Indigenous communities for decades, due to their use of the Mountain Top Removal coal mining method. And yet... NINE banks recently entered into bond financing agreements with Glencore lasting until 2054. (BBVA, Barclays, Commerzbank AG, Goldman Sachs, JPMorganChase, Mizuho, Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation – SMBC Group, and UBS) Glencore plans to expand one of the mines to operate until 2072, arguing that because the coal will be used for steel, it less harmful for the climate. No matter what sector coal is mined and burned for, it is equally bad for communities and the climate. Banks should not finance Glencore, a company that continues to expand its coal mining activities. In particular, banks should not finance Glencore unless the company: 🔸 Cancels the Fording River mine expansion project 🔸 Works with workers and communities to develop asset-by-asset just transition plans for the closure of all four mines in the Elk Valley Complex, as well as the coal export terminal in the Port of Vancouver by 2050. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/etjrjsgX

For two weeks now, the communities of Macala and Mangala, affected by TotalEnergies' #MozambiqueLNG project, have demonstrated outside the company's offices at its Afungi gas site in northern Mozambique for issues around compensation and loss of livelihoods.   #Mozambique LNG is associated with land grabbing, loss of livelihoods and human rights abuses. It was suspended in April 2021 following several armed attacks in the province. The ‘force majeure’ declared by TotalEnergies has worsened the situation of the 586 families who were displaced to build the gas infrastructure. Some have lost their farmland and access to the sea. Without these means of subsistence, these families are now living in extreme poverty.   In the communities of Macala and Mangala, the compensation payments promised by Total are still pending, even though land has already been taken for the project. The banks that have signed a loan agreement for this project like JPMorganChase, Standard Chartered, Standard Bank Group, Mizuho, MUFG, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation – SMBC Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank need to withdraw from this destructive project. https://lnkd.in/e6Tyb6cy

RBC, HSBC, and Goldman Sachs are among the top ten banks financing an emissions crisis at sea. International shipping is already one of the largest greenhouse gas (GHG) polluters in the world and the The International Council on Clean Transportation has shown in that LNG-fueled shipping is between 70% and 82% worse for the climate than oil-fueled business-as-usual shipping. Instead of spending $335 billion USD on accelerating the climate crisis and violating their own climate commitments, these financial institutions should be funding a clean energy transition for the maritime shipping industry. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eGJVYTrU