Breakthrough report clarifies how company cash held in large banks and investments works against corporate climate goals and highlights opportunity to catalyze transformation in the financial system.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 17, 2022
Contact
Annette Raveneau, carbonbankroll@spitfirestrategies.com
WASHINGTON – As companies increasingly focus on combating climate change, a new report
reveals that for many of the world’s largest companies, the carbon footprint generated by their
investments and cash held in big banks are a significant source, and sometimes their largest source,
of emissions. “The Carbon Bankroll: The Climate Impact and Untapped Power of Corporate Cash”
provides groundbreaking analysis of the hidden climate impact of corporate finances, making it
possible to understand the scale of emissions generated by a company’s cash, investments, and
financial practices.
Using 10 major corporations’ publicly available data, the report illuminates how the financial system–
particularly the banking sector, which uses client cash to finance fossil fuels– undermines the
sustainability efforts of climate-conscious companies. The report finds that for several companies,
including Google, Meta, and PayPal, the emissions generated by their cash and investments exceed
all their other emissions combined.
“The Carbon Bankroll,” jointly published by the Climate Safe Lending Network (CSLN), The Outdoor
Policy Outfit (TOPO), and BankFWD, allows companies to estimate how much their financial practices
work against their ambitious goals to rein in emissions from direct and indirect operations across their
value chains. The analysis also suggests how companies can leverage their financial practices to
accelerate the decarbonization of the financial sector, which is critical to achieving the global climate
goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C.
“Tackling climate change effectively at this critical time depends on ensuring the financial system
aligns with maintaining a livable planet for generations to come,” said James Vaccaro, executive
director of CSLN. “By helping businesses recognise how the financial system converts the money they
manage day-to-day into the activities that shape our economies for the decades to come, with the
associated positive and negative impacts, we hope to stimulate a new dialogue between corporations
and the finance sector that could super-charge the net-zero transition.”
The recent growth of environmentally and socially responsible investments reflects companies’
increasing recognition that how they bank and invest their money has an impact on people and the
planet. The report’s research and replicable methodology, which was produced in partnership with
finance data experts at leading climate solutions provider South Pole, fills critical data gaps that
underscore the magnitude of the emissions generated by corporate cash and investments. By
discovering the enormous scale of this emissions source, the report emphasizes the need for
companies to prioritize the decarbonization of their cash and investments. Key findings include:
• For some of the world’s largest companies, including Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Salesforce,
their cash holdings are their largest source of emissions, increasing total emissions by 91% to
112% when compared to most recently reported emissions.
• For companies with more carbon-intensive operations such as Amazon and Johnson &
Johnson, their cash holdings still constitute one of their largest emissions sources, increasing
total emissions by 11%-15% compared to most recently reported emissions.
• In 2021, the emissions generated by Microsoft’s $130 billion held in cash and investments was
comparable to the cumulative emissions generated by the manufacturing, transportation, and
use of every Microsoft product in the world.
• In 2020, Amazon’s $81 billion held in cash and short-term investments generated more
emissions than the purchased energy used to power every Amazon facility around the world,
which includes its data centers, fulfillment centers, physical stores, and other facilities.
“The companies highlighted in this report are all environmental leaders that have been working for
years to combat climate change and decarbonize their supply chains,” said Paul Moinester, executive
director of TOPO. “This report reveals that these companies’ substantial climate accomplishments are
being severely undermined by a misaligned financial system that is channeling hundreds of billions of
corporate US dollars into the carbon-intensive sectors driving the climate crisis.”
“The Carbon Bankroll” suggests that just as companies have worked to decarbonize their operational
and energy supply chains, they can work to decarbonize their financial supply chain by pushing their
banks to decrease financing for fossil fuels, or by moving their money. Doing so, the report explains,
would help companies achieve their corporate climate goals and improve the financial sector’s climate
performance at a time when large banks have continued to finance fossil fuel expansion at levels that
are incompatible with their own climate commitments.
“Every individual and business can impact the world around them through their finances in one of three
ways, via their investments, their philanthropy, and their banking. The power of this report is that its
data tell us that the lever we use the least turns out to be the most powerful tool we have–where and
how we choose to bank,” said Valerie Rockefeller, co-chair of BankFWD and board chair of the
Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. “Bank choice is a largely untapped
frontier for climate leadership with massive potential for impact. We’ll be proud to support the first
companies that seize this leadership opportunity and let banks know they expect serious climate
action.”
“Financial institutions have a pivotal role to play in achieving our global net zero targets, and leading
businesses can facilitate this through a better understanding of the emissions associated with their
cash and investments. We hope that our research helps illustrate the urgent need for greater
disclosure from banks regarding their financed and facilitated emissions, and that it inspires deeper
collaboration across industries to develop and adopt harmonized reporting and accounting standards
for climate action,” said Andres Casallas Ramirez, director of Sustainable Finance at South Pole.
More than a report, “The Carbon Bankroll” is also an invitation to companies to join a forthcoming
business initiative that will develop a comprehensive playbook for how companies can drive positive
change through their financial supply chains. Central to this collaborative effort will be harnessing
corporations’ world-leading capacity to innovate, scale new ideas, and decarbonize supply chains.
About Climate Safe Lending Network: The Climate Safe Lending Network (CSLN) is an international
multi-stakeholder collaborative dedicated to accelerating the decarbonization of the banking sector to
secure a climate-safe world. The Network brings together senior leaders and changemakers from
across banks, NGOs, academics, investors, businesses, and policy experts, to share insights and
collectively explore how to play their optimum role in accelerating change. The Network runs a
fellowship program for climate intrapreneurs from banks across the world, a policy initiative focused
on regulatory and policy intervention, and brings together diverse perspectives on climate strategies
relevant for banks into publications such as The Good Transition Plan (launched at COP26).
About The Outdoor Policy Outfit: The Outdoor Policy Outfit (TOPO) is a “think and do” tank that
creates and implements groundbreaking solutions to the systemic problems driving the environmental
crisis. As a leader in the responsible finance space, TOPO specializes in building levers that harness
the untapped power of consumers to transform the financial sector into an engine for environmental
and social progress. From spearheading the Carbon Bankroll initiative to developing a first-of-its-kind
global banking certification program, TOPO’s team of problem solvers excel at building audacious
solutions that meet the scale, complexity, and gravity of the systemic challenges we face.
About BankFWD: BankFWD is a sustainable finance initiative founded by the members of the
Rockefeller family dedicated to accelerating the transition to a just, zero-carbon economy by
influencing banks to align their business strategies with the 1.5° target of the Paris Climate Agreement.
BankFWD works to accomplish this goal by building a network of individuals and organizations united
in the belief that by using their collective wealth and public standing, they can persuade major banks
to lead on climate by phasing out financing for fossil fuels.
About South Pole: South Pole, a social enterprise recognised by the World Economic Forum’s
Schwab Foundation, is the world’s leading climate solutions provider and carbon project developer.
Since its creation in 2006, it has developed nearly 1,000 projects in over 50 countries to reduce over
one gigaton of CO2 emissions, and to provide social benefits to less privileged communities who are
particularly vulnerable to climate change. South Pole also advises thousands of leading companies
on their sustainability journeys to achieve net zero emissions. With its global Climate Solutions
platform, South Pole develops and implements comprehensive strategies that turn climate action into
long-term business opportunities for companies, governments and organizations around the world.