Earlier this month oil prices collapsed to minus $30 a barrel, as the world faced an unprecedented economic shock. Yet remarkably, major UK banks continue to pour money into fossil fuels.
According to a new report, UK lenders have provided £158bn of financing for fossil fuel projects since the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015. Barclays, the worst offender in Europe for fossil fuel financing, lent over £90bn. While climate change threatens entire ecosystems and is on its way to displacing millions of people, bankers are continuing the drive put profit before people.
The economic crash which has followed the coronavirus pandemic offers a real opportunity for economic change and investment in a green recovery. Across the world we are seeing calls for an economy of care, not consumption, and for a focus on environmental responsibility. As the oil industry teeters on the brink, demands for governments to use this opportunity to implement a just transition and a green jobs guarantee are rising.
