NatWest is one of the largest banks in the United Kingdom, and its public declaration to reach net zero planet-warming pollution by 2050 was well-received among climate advocates. Yet investigations found that NatWest is instead funding dirty oil and gas companies with hefty investments, The Mirror reported.
NatWest was discovered to have issued a massive $500 million bond to polluting oil giant BP in 2023, according to findings from The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. It is one of several "net zero" banks that nevertheless raised a total of $5.3 billion for BP that year — a sly way of financing planet-warming pollution without technically straying from their own direct emissions goals.
These standards are timely and urgent. Scientists have warned that unless countries can reduce pollution enough to keep the global temperature from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the consequences we're already experiencing from the changing climate will become exponentially worse. And intensifying weather events, changes in agriculture, loss of biodiversity, and the uptick of certain diseases are just a handful of ripple effects.
Yet while the International Energy Agency has warned that any major new oil and gas developments will inevitably lead to crossing this deadly temperature threshold, banks including NatWest continue to finance those developments.
"It's indefensible," John Lang, the founder of the research group Net Zero Tracker, told The Mirror. "There's no way we can meet the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement if we continue financing the exploration of oil and gas. It's greenwashing, plain and simple."
A NatWest spokesperson said the bank used "an independent third party model to assess whether oil and gas customers had credible Paris-aligned transition plans," The Mirror reported. But they provided no specifics on the model.
Even when a company makes seemingly promising strides toward reducing its pollution, it's important to conduct research to confirm the truth behind any statements. After all, it's easy to put "sustainable" on a clothing tag or a banking website — but it's a different thing altogether to follow through.
And for consumers who care about adhering to the Paris Agreement and keeping the planet as cool as possible, taking the time to consider how you spend your money, your political power, and your time can make a major difference for the future.
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