The lender is aiming for net-zero emissions across all its businesses by 2050
Royal Bank of Canada has announced that it will be allocating $500 billion towards its goal of achieving net-zero emissions across its lending operations by 2050.
Late last week, RBC said that this commitment will be in keeping with Canada’s involvement in the Paris Agreement. The lender said that its sustainable finance program met its earlier $100 billion target last year.
The bank also promised to measure and report emissions in major sectors it is financing starting 2022.
“When you look at the role of a financial institution in working with stakeholders to address the future of climate and the future of a green economy, really our role has to be in partnership with our clients,” said Lindsay Patrick, head of the sustainable finance group at RBC Capital Markets. “And we really think the biggest impact we can have is supporting our clients with their own sustainability strategy and their own sustainability initiatives.”
The lender had previously vowed that it will not directly finance any activity that will disrupt the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Similar pledges have been made by institutions like the Bank of Montreal and Toronto-Dominion Bank, which have also revealed their own long-term plans.
