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World's top banks pour $1.9T into fossil fuel financing since 2015

banktrack.org

21–30 of 54 posts

Re: World's top banks pour $1.9T into fossil fuel financing since 2015

#21

This is probably due in part to private investors asking their banks to invest their money for them without regard to environmental issues. Will you blame the postal office for delivering a bomb if it's properly packaged ? Probably not. The same way, I feel it's stupid to blame the banks for investing their customers' money where the yield is the largest when that is specifically what the customers' expect. Put huge…

> banks for investing their customers' money where the yield is the largest

Banks do not invest using deposits. This fiction needs to end. When they make the 1.9T in loans, they are making new money.

Re: World's top banks pour $1.9T into fossil fuel financing since 2015

#22

So that's ~$0.380 T$/y for "just" the "top banks". To compare with IEA countries (excludes Russia, OPEC, China...) that spent 0.0189*(0.21+0.16)= 0.008 T$/y on energy efficiency and renewables... https://www.iea.org/statistics/rdd/

R&D isn't the same as financing infrastructure..

Infrastructure is certainly part of development...

Re: World's top banks pour $1.9T into fossil fuel financing since 2015

#24

This is probably due in part to private investors asking their banks to invest their money for them without regard to environmental issues. Will you blame the postal office for delivering a bomb if it's properly packaged ? Probably not. The same way, I feel it's stupid to blame the banks for investing their customers' money where the yield is the largest when that is specifically what the customers' expect. Put huge…

If the package has been labelled "bomb", I would blame them. And that's the point here, they know what it's going to be invested in.

Yes, it's commercially imperative to trade, unless it doesn't. And people getting aware of it and complaining is one way, it becomes more of a liability.

Re: World's top banks pour $1.9T into fossil fuel financing since 2015

#25
post #6
post #2

Can anyone do back of napkin math on what $1.9T could buy in terms of wind/solar energy? How many homes that could power?

21,000 of Tesla’s huge battery system in Australia ($91M) [1] [1] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/sep/27/south-aus... edit: thanks for the math save!

Google: "((1 T) / $35000) * $1.9 Trillion" = 54 285 714.3 teslas

"YOU GET A TESLA! YOU GET A TESLA! EVERYBODY GETS A TESLA!"

Re: World's top banks pour $1.9T into fossil fuel financing since 2015

#26
post #13

World's top lenders help finance the industry that powers the world? I know we're supposed to grab our pitchforks but come on now.. 1.9T into wind and solar would produce a fraction of the power output and they have obligations to their clients

Interesting to start with more of a null hypothesis here. What’s the historical investment level? Does this amount actually reflects a complete collapse of fossil investments? BankTrak apparently has been doing these report cards for 10 years. Here’s the 2016 edition: https://www.banktrack.org/campaign/shorting_the_climate_2016... “ In just the past three years, these banks have sunk $42 billion for companies active…

Reading a book on related issues right now, and it suggests that's what is to be expected - the demand on energy is growing, but also the costs of acquiring fossil fuels are growing and infrastructure decay is catching up with the industry. So no other choice but to run faster even just to stay in the same place.

Re: World's top banks pour $1.9T into fossil fuel financing since 2015

#27
post #4

This is probably due in part to private investors asking their banks to invest their money for them without regard to environmental issues. Will you blame the postal office for delivering a bomb if it's properly packaged ? Probably not. The same way, I feel it's stupid to blame the banks for investing their customers' money where the yield is the largest when that is specifically what the customers' expect. Put huge…

What yield? 0.002%?

Investing in stocks has long term yields of like 7% or 8% per year if you invest in an SP500 (or similar) index fund, from what I know. Admittedly I am not an expert, but the documentation I read before investing myself lets me think that 7% or 8% is quite standard for 25 year investments.

I'm not sure what you mean with 0.002%. Maybe bonds?

Re: World's top banks pour $1.9T into fossil fuel financing since 2015

#29

This is probably due in part to private investors asking their banks to invest their money for them without regard to environmental issues. Will you blame the postal office for delivering a bomb if it's properly packaged ? Probably not. The same way, I feel it's stupid to blame the banks for investing their customers' money where the yield is the largest when that is specifically what the customers' expect. Put huge…

I really want a carbon tax especially on investment, it's the only solution to the investment problem, isn't it?

But imagine the riots in France as the price of gas goes up.

I can also imagine the News Corp/Sinclair spin on it in the USA.

It has to be supplemented with other programs to take the load off of average people. A really disproportionate percentage of the burden needs to be taken on by investors. Doesn't it? What would that entire package look like?

Re: World's top banks pour $1.9T into fossil fuel financing since 2015

#30

This is probably due in part to private investors asking their banks to invest their money for them without regard to environmental issues. Will you blame the postal office for delivering a bomb if it's properly packaged ? Probably not. The same way, I feel it's stupid to blame the banks for investing their customers' money where the yield is the largest when that is specifically what the customers' expect. Put huge…

I really want a carbon tax especially on investment, it's the only solution to the investment problem, isn't it? But imagine the riots in France as the price of gas goes up. I can also imagine the News Corp/Sinclair spin on it in the USA. It has to be supplemented with other programs to take the load off of average people. A really disproportionate percentage of the burden needs to be taken on by investors. Doesn't i…

>A really disproportionate percentage of the burden needs to be taken on by investors.

Fifty four percent of equities are held by households and mutual funds. Add in another 15% for pensions, and you arrive at roughly 70% of the stock market belonging to people saving for retirement. Investors are the "average people."

Source: https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/54aff08969beddb2240a8...

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