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CEOs of RBC, TD, Scotiabank, CIBC and BMO called to testify
OTTAWA-
The CEOs of Canada’s five largest banks are expected to testify before a parliamentary committee later today about the financial sector’s impacts on the climate and environment.
Top executives from Royal Bank of Canada, TD Bank Group, BMO Financial Group, Scotiabank and CIBC are scheduled to appear via videoconference before the House of Commons standing committee on environment and sustainable development.
Banks have faced increasing scrutiny over how their lending practices contribute to climate change, as they have provided hundreds of billions of dollars in financing to oil and gas companies in recent years.
Canada’s biggest banks have set short- and long-term emissions reduction targets, including net-zero emissions financed through 2050, but face criticism for not acting quickly enough.
The bank executives’ appearance comes a week after testimony before the same committee by the CEOs of Canada’s largest oil and gas producers, who are facing a proposed legislative cap on emissions.
Parliamentary efforts to control the banking sector’s indirect impact on the climate are largely limited to Independent Senator Rosa Galvez’s proposal for a Climate-Aligned Finance Act, which remains in the Senate banking committee.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 13, 2024.