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Bankers Making ESG Headlines Fail Deforestation Bar, Study Finds

  • Financiers directed trillions to forest-risk supply chains
  • Glasgow commitments will likely encounter greater scrutiny
Deforestation is responsible for 15% of the world’s carbon-dioxide emissions. 

Deforestation is responsible for 15% of the world’s carbon-dioxide emissions. 

Photographer: Lula Sampaio/AFP/Getty Images

Tasneem Hanfi Brögger

Global banks and fund managers have directed trillions of dollars to businesses most exposed to deforestation, threatening to undermine their own commitments to slash greenhouse gas emissions, a new study concluded. 

U.K.-based nonprofit Global Canopy tracks 500 companies and financial firms identified as playing a key role in deforestation, which is responsible for 15% of the world’s carbon-dioxide emissions. Its research shows that only 38% of financial firms have clear policies to address deforestation risks, after directing $5.5 trillion to companies in forest-risk supply chains in the half decade through 2020.