In a win for climate activists,
The banks will soon begin publicly divulging what’s known as the energy supply financing ratio, which measures a company’s level of financing for low-carbon energy versus fossil fuels.
The New York City comptroller’s office and three New York City pension funds had pressured the banks to provide the information.
“We found common ground with NYC Comptroller on disclosing a clean energy financing ratio with an understanding that it is going to take us some time and resources to develop a decision useful approach,” the bank spokesperson said.
The moves by two New York-based megabanks follow a loss of momentum last year by
On Thursday, the Sierra Club lauded the New York City entities for spurring
In an interview, Cushing said that investors want to know if and how banks are delivering on their climate commitments. “Disclosing the ratio of banks’ clean versus dirty energy financing is a good indication of how rigorously those commitments are being implemented,” he said.
Cushing added that “all eyes are on the remaining Wall Street banks” to start providing transparency into how they’re scaling clean energy financing and reducing fossil fuel lending.
The New York City entities are proposing that Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley also disclose their energy supply financing ratios. In their latest proxy statements, Bank of America and Goldman have both recommended that shareholders vote against the shareholder resolution. Morgan Stanley has not yet publicly released its proxy statement.
In its argument against the shareholder proposal, Bank of America said that Bloomberg currently calculates energy supply finance ratios for global banks. It also pointed to its goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions before 2050 and its assistance to clients in their transitions to net zero.
Goldman wrote, in explaining its opposition to the proposal, that it will be disclosing a “significant amount of new sustainability and climate-related data over the next year,” which may include the energy supply financing ratio. It pointed to European regulations in explaining the new disclosures.
Goldman also wrote that it “cannot prudently commit to the disclosure of new climate metrics related to our financing activities in this time of significant regulatory developments.”
Earlier this month, the Securities and Exchange Commission