There is growing recognition that central banks must act to confront the climate crisis. They have the tools to catalyze and accelerate the end of financing for fossil fuels – through monetary policy, regulatory action, and excluding fossil fuel assets from their own portfolios. But, with only limited exceptions, they are not using these tools. This report identifies 10 criteria for assessing central banks against the Paris Agreement’s objective, and applies them to assess 12 major central banks.

The creation of the NZPF is a tacit recognition by major oil and gas producers that their contribution to the climate crisis can no longer be ignored. But the framing of the initiative and its main objectives raise the prospect of the NZPF being a greenwashing tool in service to the oil and gas industry’s interests.

This new analysis finds the ADB has spent over $4.7 billion on gas since the adoption of the Paris Agreement. Plans to expand gas infrastructure in Asia pose one of the greatest threats to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement and averting the most catastrophic impacts of the climate crisis.

This report analyzes fossil fuel financing from the world’s 60 largest commercial and investment banks — aggregating their leading roles in lending and underwriting of debt and equity issuances — and reveals that these banks poured a total of USD $3.8 trillion into fossil fuels from 2016–2020.