RBS report comes under fire

Anticipating the release by the Royal Bank of Scotland of its 2007 Corporate Responsibility Report, a coalition of NGOs are criticising the bank for funding fossil fuel developments in various parts of the world.

RBS' report isn't published until Friday (11 June), but Friends of the Earth Scotland, People & Planet, Platform, BankTrack and Scottish Education and Action for Development have already taken the bank to task for ploughing an estimated $6bn (£3bn) into oil companies and "heavily contested fossil fuel projects".

The NGOs expect the report to focus on the bank's $2-4bn loans to renewables projects, but says its investments in fossil fuel projects negate any claims the bank makes about its environmental stance.

A source close to RBS told BusinessGreen.com that the coalition's allegations are not new and date back to reports made up to two years ago.

"RBS is committed to supporting the transition to a low carbon economy, as evidenced by our very recent partnership with the government to host the UK Low Carbon Economy Summit," said an RBS spokesperson. "In 2007 alone we were one the largest financiers of renewable energy globally, with over $1.5bn committed."

The 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.

"In the last year and a half, RBS has made small steps in the right direction," said James Lloyd, head of campaigns at People & Planet. "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."

The NGOs say RBS consistently claims it should not be held responsible for the emissions resulting from fossil fuel projects, and does not include these in the CSR report. But, they say, it implicitly claims the credit for emissions reductions resulting from renewable energy.