Revealed: British banks put £75bn into firms behind 'carbon bombs'

Huge coal, gas and oil schemes funded despite climate impact

- Matthew Taylor

Banks in the City of London have poured more than $100bn (£75bn) into companies developing "carbon bombs" - huge oil, gas and coal projects that would drive the climate past internationally agreed temperature limits with catastrophic global consequences - according to a study.

Nine London-based banks, including HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds are involved in financing companies responsible for at least 117 carbon bomb projects in 28 countries between 2016 - the year after the landmark Paris agreement was signed - and 2023, according to the study.

If the projects go ahead, the study says they will have the potential to produce 420bn tonnes of carbon emissions, equivalent to more than 10 years of current global carbon dioxide emissions.

"Despite the UK's seemingly ambitious climate plans, it is astonishing how much money has flowed from UK banks to companies worldwide developing the biggest climate-wrecking and damaging projects since 2016," said Fatima Eisam-Eldeen, a lead analyst at the Leave It in the Ground Initiative, the climate thinktank that produced the study.

"Real climate ambition and leadership would mean proper financial regulation not only within the country but also beyond the country's borders by stopping all financial flows to companies exacerbating the climate crisis we all suffer."