“They say that money makes the world go round, but money is making the world go backwards,” Teresa Anderson, global lead on climate justice for ActionAid International, told reporters.
For the report, ActionAid worked with the international trade consulting company Profundo to compile data on major international banks’ loans and underwriting to fossil fuel and agribusiness corporations.
…in loans. The companies are taking out loans. Just like literally any other company.
There’s a different argument about whether or not there should be restrictions on loans to companies the government deems bad, but this framing is ridiculous.
That isn’t the right question because there’s no for-profit industry fighting climate change. If they were disproportionately rejecting loan applications for fighting climate change that had equivalent risk-weighted profitability vs fossil fuels, that would be a problem. I fail to see why it would be their fault that they don’t get as many loan applications for one thing vs another.
Banks make money with loans. Only a very few are ideologically motivated. Getting mad at banks for loaning to some type of company and not some other company is like getting mad at Home Depot because they supply slumlords with more flooring than they provide people living in poverty. Like it would be great if Home Depot gave stuff for free to poor people, they probably have a program to do that to some extent, but at some point you just have to reckon with the fact that solving your pet social issue isn’t the responsibility of any particular set of corporations, they provide goods and services to the customers who walk in the door.
Lobby the government to set rules such that climate change is lessened, don’t get mad at literally every business because they are doing Capitalism normally.
How about instead of us having to stand in line with the hundreds of other lobbiests, maybe the gov’t should just do its fucking job, which is first taking care of the people.
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