Publishing the report “The Approach of Banks in Turkey to Climate Change”, 350 for Climate called on banks not to provide financing for fossil fuel investments, especially coal.The Banks’ Approach to Climate Change report evaluates Turkey’s 17 largest banks in five criteria related to climate change: Fossil fuel assets/investments, Clean energy investments, “Net Zero”, Carbon footprint and target setting for “Carbon Neutral”, ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance practices) and similar ratings.
According to the report, eight banks in Turkey have announced that they will not finance coal, while the rest do not have such a statement. While approximately half of the banks have set targets to be “carbon neutral” and/or “net zero”, information on whether the rest has set a date is not available. Banks that have set targets do not have any information about their short-term plans to support these long-term targets.
The report draws attention to the fact that the “Sustainability Committees” established under different names in almost every bank continue to work diligently in this area, but the sustainability reports prepared by these committees are not uniform and have been prepared according to different metrics. At the same time, it is revealed that there is not enough data on how the published reports and/or the information provided are audited.
Efe Baysal from 350 For Climate Association stated that banks have a great responsibility for a fair economy and a livable earth in the fight against the climate crisis, and said, “Banks’ refusal to provide financial resources to fossil fuels, especially coal, causes climate crisis and pollutes the air, water and soil. It is a very important step for the projects to stop. At the same time, the road to Turkey’s 2053 net-zero target goes through fundamental changes in financial systems for the transformation of the energy sector, which has the largest share in emissions.” made the statement.
The “Smokeless Money Field” petition launched by 350 For Climate Association in recent months aims to remind the power of individual deposits in banks. The bank enables its customers to realize the total financing power of their individual deposit accounts and to request their banks to take a step towards exiting coal.
In his statement on the subject, Baysal pointed out that bank customers have the right to demand that their savings be used to leave a livable world to future generations and continued as follows: “Individuals have the power to stop their banks from funding the climate crisis. With this campaign, we want the banks that have not yet taken a step towards exiting coal to make a clear commitment. Next, we expect them to end their existing fossil fuel investments, announce target dates for net zero, and announce all their long-term and short-term plans as measurable and auditable.”