RBC is the biggest funder of fossil fuels in Canada, and fifth in the world. It has poured over $200 billion into fossil fuels since the Paris Accord was signed. RBC is also financing the Coastal GasLink pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory, as well as countless other climate-wrecking and human-rights violating projects worldwide.
LeadNow members demand that Canada’s RBC stop investing in fossil fuels. It’s also crucial that RBC respect the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples – and stop funding the expansion of fossil fuel production and infrastructure, such as Coastal GasLink.
This from the National Observer: “On a minor technicality, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has rejected a climate shareholder resolution that would call for an end to fossil fuel financing for expansion…. The draft submission was 49 words over the limit, and RBC refused to compromise and rejected it outright ahead of their April 7 annual shareholder meeting (AGM).”
Leadnow members will join a broad coalition of organizations shining a spotlight on the planet-killing investments RBC continues to make, and pulling back the curtain on RBC’s greenwashing. Together, we’re working to ensure that RBC can’t hide the truth from its customers and potential customers anymore. This is exactly what CEO Dave McKay fears, despite his statement in a recent op-ed in The Globe and Mail:
“Our country’s ambitious climate goals include a 40-per-cent emissions cut by 2030 and a complete shift to “net-zero” by 2050. At this point we are behind. With our current path and speed, we can see our way to about a 27-per-cent reduction by the end of this decade and will have at least 30 per cent of emissions left in 2050. We are not tackling climate change fast enough to succeed. And we need to make the biggest economic transition of our lifetime in an orderly fashion so we create prosperity for Canadians rather than destroy industries and sectors that Canada relies upon. Business as usual won’t get us there.”
For more information, see this fact sheet by RBC Revealed.