Stop EU companies from bankrolling nature destruction – POLITICO

In short, banks provide corporations with funding, extend credit, buy their stocks and bonds, and provide them with other financial services. This new report focuses on the money going to major corporations most active in sectors that are linked to the destruction of ecosystems — sectors producing agricultural commodities like palm oil and soybeans, industries consuming these commodities to make animal feed or other products, as well as timber and wood pulp.

Its findings show that financial institutions headquartered in the EU currently hold €60 billion in investments in such companies — that’s 9.4 percent of the global total.

Moreover, since 2016, these same financial institutions have provided €256 billion in credit to corporations in sectors linked to ecosystem destruction. That amounts to more than a fifth of the total credit these companies have received globally, making EU-based banks and financial institutions their second-largest lender, trailing closely behind those in the U.S. and well ahead of China.

Among these financial institutions, those in just four countries — France, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain — extended nearly 90 percent of Europe’s total credit to major companies in ecosystem risk sectors. The biggest lenders were BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Rabobank, while the biggest investors were Crédit Agricole, Deutsche Bank and Allianz.

And though the biggest recipients of the funds might not be household names, they’ve collectively received €24.4 billion in credit and €1.6 billion in investments from EU-based banks. The companies Cargill and Bunge are two of the world’s largest traders of commodities that pose a risk to ecosystems — like soy, maize, cocoa and sugar. JBS and Marfrig are leading meat industry conglomerates. The major Indonesian companies Royal Golden Eagle and Sinar Mas are both globally significant producers and processors of palm oil and pulpwood.

All of these recipients of European cash have operations in sectors linked to deforestation, ecosystem destruction and disputes with local communities. It is hard to overstate just how destructive an impact they have had on our natural world.