Central banks could play a critical role in catalysing the rapid shift of financial flows away from fossil fuels, but have instead been tinkering at the edges, finds this report from Oil Change International.
The study identifies 10 criteria for assessing central banks against the Paris Agreement’s objective, and applies them to assess 12 major central banks. It shows that with a few isolated exceptions, activity has been limited primarily to measures to increase financial market transparency.
The paper warns that while some central bank executives claim that tackling the climate crisis is beyond their mandates, they have positively reinforced fossil fuel financing, and even directly financed fossil fuel production.
The paper calls on central banks to accelerate the end of financing for fossil fuels through monetary policy, regulatory action, and excluding fossil fuel assets from their own portfolios.
This page was last updated October 22, 2021
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