The New York City Employees’ Retirement System, Teachers’ Retirement System and Board of Education Retirement System signed an agreement with the Royal Bank of Canada to publicly disclose its financing ratio of low-carbon energy to fossil fuels.
The investment organizations are mandating RBC, as well as Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., to adhere to new environmental disclosures prioritizing the financing differences between fossil fuel assets and low-carbon opportunities.
Read: New York City pension funds pushing RBC to disclose clean energy funding
In a press release, Brad Lander, New York’s city comptroller, said despite public commitments, U.S. and Canadian banks have financed more than $1 trillion of fossil fuel extraction since the Paris Accords in 2015. “The transition from financing fossil fuels to low-carbon energy is going far too slowly – and thus far, it hasn’t even been possible for shareholders to track.”
The pension systems have filed similar motions with the Bank of America Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley. He added these organizations should also join their peers in incorporating the disclosures.
In its 2023 sustainability report, RBC said it’s targeting to increase low-carbon energy lending to $35 billion by 2030, as well as allocate $1 billion by 2030 for the development of innovative climate solutions.
“Absolute emissions from the oil and gas sector must decline over time as part of the transition to a net-zero economy,” the bank said, in a press release. “RBC is committed to taking action to bring down its absolute financed emissions for this sector over time.”
Read: New York City pension funds calling for absolute GHG emission targets at RBC