RBC scraps sustainable finance commitment, holds back on disclosures

The financial district of Toronto is shown on Wednesday Sept. 18, 2019. Photo by Doug Ives /THE CANADIAN PRESS

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TORONTO — Canada’s largest bank said Tuesday that it has scrapped one of its flagship climate commitments and is holding back on publicizing other climate progress in part because of new rules around greenwashing.

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In its latest sustainability report, RBC said that it has dropped its target of facilitation $500 billion in sustainable financing after finding issues with its methodology.

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The bank said the findings, as well as amendments to Canada’s Competition Act that set expectations around environmental claims, led to it “retiring” its commitment.

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RBC also decided not to disclose its energy supply ratio, an important measure of how its financing of high- and low-carbon energy compare, also citing changes to the act that require environmental claims be backed up.

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The bank had last year committed to release its ratio following pressure from shareholders including the New York pension system.

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It also said it won’t be disclosing how it’s making progress on its commitment to provide $35 billion to low-carbon energy by 2030.

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Jennifer Livingston, RBC’s vice president of climate said in a statement that the bank is proud of its climate work and its increased funding of low-carbon energy, but decided it couldn’t say more.

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“Recent amendments to Canada’s Competition Act limit the information we can share on certain sustainability disclosures,” she said.

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Livingston pointed to the requirement that metrics align with internationally recognized methodologies, but said none existed for some measurements.

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“We are disappointed not to share these metrics externally but will continue to monitor and report them internally to measure our progress.”

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There is, however, nothing stopping the bank from reporting its findings, said Tanya Jemec, a finance lawyer at advocacy group Ecojustice.

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“The Competition Act greenwashing provisions do not stop companies from making claims about their business that can be adequately substantiated,” she said in an email.

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“RBC’s refusal to disclose its energy financing ratio suggests a lack of confidence in its own methodology.”