Financing for industrial livestock is undermining U.S. banks’ climate commitments and Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase are responsible for over half of the $134 Billion in financing explored in the latest research.
Lending to corporations involved in meat, dairy, and/or feed production comprises only a tiny proportion of banks’ portfolios – at 0.25% - but represents a significant proportion of their financed emissions, at around 11%. And those financed emissions have a major impact.iOS 17.5 Release Date: Major iPhone Update Could Debut Any Minute NowU.S. banks financed and facilitated 63.
Ward Warmerdam, another author of the study and the Senior Financial Researcher at Profundo said: “Big Meat & Dairy exerts a vastly disproportionate impact on the banks’ total emissions, putting their own stated climate commitments at risk. Our research finds that by eliminating their financing of high-emitting corporations involved in meat, dairy, and feed production — a relatively small change in how they allocate their capital — these big banks can affect a sharp emissions reduction.