In spite of their promises to protect the environment, American banks are giving money to companies that raise animals for food and milk.
A study that came out not long ago looked into how more than fifty different US banks give money to animal protein and feed companies in the form of loans, shares, and bonds.
According to Monique Mikhail, who led the report that exposed the banks, “Banks have committed to pathways to net zero, but they are ignoring a huge cow-shaped hole in their plans.”
As per the study, these companies that make feed and animal protein account for more than twenty million tonnes of CO2. The report also said that farming loans were connected to three big US banks: CitiGroup, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase.
Mikhail went on, “We weren’t expecting the banks to go so far as to break their own climate promises.” She also said that getting rid of this funding would be one of the best things they could do to help the environment.
Within the next few decades, all three banks decided to cut the amount of money they lend for livestock to zero. The study does say that the banks may have caused more pollution than they think because companies that make animal protein and feed tend to lie about how much pollution they cause.
A lot of these cattle companies are said to not report any of their indirect emissions, and more than half of them don’t report any emissions at all.
Some banks were giving money to the animal companies that put out the most pollution. These companies planned to keep growing, which would be bad for the Paris Agreement on climate change.
