On Friday July 4, the Royal Bank of Scotland will launch its 2007 Corporate Responsibility (CSR) Report. A coalition of environmental NGOs, including Friends of the Earth Scotland and People & Planet [1], are casting doubt on the bank’s green credentials in light of its ongoing role in financing fossil fuel expansion around the world. In 2007 RBS supported the fossil fuel industry with over $6 billion, while the bank’s embedded missions passed 50 million tonnes of CO2 – more than Scotland [2].

The groups expect that the report will focus on the bank’s lending of $2-4 billion to renewables projects in order to bolster its environmental credibility, while largely ignoring the impacts of the greater continued support of over $6 billion for - often heavily contested - fossil fuel projects [3]. The emissions embedded in the bank’s fossil fuel lending portfolio have continued to rise, passing 50 million tonnes of CO2 in 2007 – greater than Scotland's emissions, and more than 100 times the bank's internal emissions. [4]

The Bank has consistently claimed it should not be held responsible for the emissions resulting from fossil fuel projects, yet implicitly claims the credit for emissions reductions resulting from renewable energy. In last year's report RBS gave the false impression that the bank's support for renewable energy was as great as its support for fossil fuels, by excluding much of the financing provided or arranged for firms involved in fossil fuels. [5] It remains impossible to identify the full extent and implications of the Bank's fossil fuel investments from any public documentation, not just the CSR report.

There are also serious concerns about the human rights impacts of some of RBS' investment portfolio. RBS indirectly finances Chinese state oil company Sinopec, which plays a key role in propping up the Burmese junta. Less than two months previously, during the brutal crackdown on the monks' protests, Sinopec began drilling an onshore well in a joint venture with the Burmese regime’s Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise. [6]

RBS has publicly recognised the need for there to be a transition to a low carbon economy, and is keen to portray itself as being a key player in this transition through sponsorship of events such as last week’s Low Carbon Economy Summit in London. Environmental campaigners say that if RBS is to be taken seriously as a ‘green’ bank, it must become fully transparent regarding the implications of the finance it provides and arranges, properly consider the risks arising from such investments, and therefore cap and reduce its lending to coal, gas and oil projects and companies.

Duncan McLaren, Chief Executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said:

"We welcome the activity of RBS in financing renewable energy, but it cannot claim environmental credit for supporting clean energy capacity while simultaneously failing to disclose and denying responsibility for the enormous amount of carbon emissions resulting from its financial support for fossil fuels. It's time the Bank came clean about the details of its lending portfolio, so we can have an informed debate.”

James Lloyd, Head of Campaigns at People & Planet, said:

"In the last year and a half, RBS has made small steps in the right direction. For example, taking down its oilandgasbank.com website, ending its climate change denial and capping its internal emissions. It now needs to put its money where its mouth is and stop pouring cash into a new wave of fossil fuel projects that will emit millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide for decades to come.”

Kevin Smith, Climate Change and Finance Campaigner at Platform, said:

"If Tom McKillop is serious about the need for a low carbon economy, the most practical move he could make would be to stop lending money to new oil pipelines and coal mines. Investing in renewables needs to happen instead of fossil fuel financing rather than alongside it.”

Karen Grant, from Scottish Education and Action for Development, said:

"Corporate Social Responsibility should involve careful consideration of an investment’s impacts on human rights as well as the environment. RBS’ involvement in activities in human rights hotspots such as Burma, West Papua and Sudan is undermining its commitment to being a good corporate citizen."

Ressources

• You can find a copy of RBS's Corporate Responsibility on the bank profile on the BankTrack website.
• The Oil Bank of Scotland - Campaign Website of Platform and People&Planet