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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?topic=banking&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/banking/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Tue, 08 Sep 2026 20:59:20 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>News on Banking</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/banking/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Banks must step in before the Amazon Soy Moratorium collapses (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/banks-must-step-in-before-the-amazon-soy-moratorium-collapses-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/banks-must-step-in-before-the-amazon-soy-moratorium-collapses-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Feb 2026 16:39:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ginger Cassady]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/12141643/Highway-BR-163-stretches-between-the-Tapajos-National-Forest-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314432</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Avoided Deforestation, Banking, Business, Commentary, Commodity agriculture, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Finance, Forest Destruction, Rainforests, Soy, Trade, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Amazon Rainforest is approaching a dangerous threshold. Scientists warn that continued deforestation could push the world’s largest rainforest past a tipping point, transforming it into a degraded, fire-prone savanna that emits more carbon than it stores. One of the most effective barriers preventing that outcome is now being dismantled. For nearly 20 years, the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Amazon Rainforest is approaching a dangerous threshold. Scientists warn that continued deforestation could push the world’s largest rainforest past a tipping point, transforming it into a degraded, fire-prone savanna that emits more carbon than it stores. One of the most effective barriers preventing that outcome is now being dismantled. For nearly 20 years, the Amazon Soy Moratorium has helped protect millions of hectares of forest. It stopped major traders from buying soy grown on land deforested after 2008, breaking the link between agricultural expansion and forest destruction. Earlier this month, following sustained lobbying and political pressure, Brazil’s leading soy industry association withdrew from the agreement, effectively collapsing a system that had become the backbone of responsible soy production in the Amazon. The moratorium helped drive a nearly 70% reduction in deforestation across monitored regions, even as soy production soared. It proved that strong rules and monitoring, backed by market pressure, can protect forests while supporting livelihoods and economic growth. A section of the Amazon rainforest stands next to soy fields in Belterra, Para state, Brazil, on Nov. 30, 2019. Image by AP Photo/Leo Correa. If it collapses fully, the consequences will be devastating. Researchers estimate that Amazon deforestation could rise by 30% in the coming decades, wiping out years of progress and pushing the rainforest closer to irreversible collapse. That would release billions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere and accelerate the climate and biodiversity crises already devastating communities worldwide. The unraveling of the moratorium is not happening&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/banks-must-step-in-before-the-amazon-soy-moratorium-collapses-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/banks-must-step-in-before-the-amazon-soy-moratorium-collapses-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314432</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>These banks fund oil &#038; gas in the Amazon amid climate crisis: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/these-banks-fund-oil-gas-in-the-amazon-amid-climate-crisis-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/these-banks-fund-oil-gas-in-the-amazon-amid-climate-crisis-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Nov 2025 16:34:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Constance Malleret]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/10/07095405/Nemonte-Nenquimo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308813</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Banking, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Deforestation, Environment, extractives, Finance, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Natural Gas, Oceans, Oil, Oil Drilling, Oil Spills, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, and Threats To Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Deep in the Peruvian Amazon, a sprawling industrial facility has been carved out of the rainforest. This is the Camisea Gas Complex, a natural gas mega-field operated by a consortium of oil companies led by Argentina’s Pluspetrol. The complex now supplies 70% of Peru’s liquefied petroleum gas, primarily used for cooking. But the project has [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Deep in the Peruvian Amazon, a sprawling industrial facility has been carved out of the rainforest. This is the Camisea Gas Complex, a natural gas mega-field operated by a consortium of oil companies led by Argentina’s Pluspetrol. The complex now supplies 70% of Peru’s liquefied petroleum gas, primarily used for cooking. But the project has left behind a trail of socioenvironmental rights violations, from threats to the survival of isolated Indigenous people to failure to provide energy access to the communities closest to the complex — and on the frontlines of the multiple gas leaks that have contaminated the forest in the 20 years since production began. In September, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, deemed Pluspetrol responsible for environmental damage and Indigenous rights violations in the Peruvian Amazon. A plethora of banks help fund the Camisea Gas Complex. According to nonprofit Stand.earth, Pluspetrol’s local subsidiary and fellow consortium members Repsol and Hunt Oil Peru have received $3.1 billion in financing since 2016. At least 16 banks — including Citibank, JPMorganChase, Itaú Unibanco and HSBC — have provided funding in the last year. These numbers are part of a new report, “Banks vs. The Amazon,” which uncovers how global financial institutions continue to direct resources toward oil and gas extraction in Amazonia, contributing to the destruction of the rainforest and the rise of carbon emissions that contribute to higher global temperatures — despite some banks having adopted policies to end this. Between January 2024 and June 2025, direct&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/these-banks-fund-oil-gas-in-the-amazon-amid-climate-crisis-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/these-banks-fund-oil-gas-in-the-amazon-amid-climate-crisis-report/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308813</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Leaders pitch homegrown solutions at Africa Climate Summit — and $100b to back them</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/leaders-pitch-homegrown-solutions-at-africa-climate-summit-and-100b-to-back-them/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/leaders-pitch-homegrown-solutions-at-africa-climate-summit-and-100b-to-back-them/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Sep 2025 16:26:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/09150028/EthiopiasAbiyAhmedKenyasWilliamRuto_AfricaClimateSummit2025AddisAbaba_AfricaClimateSummit-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305671</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Ethiopia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Adaptation To Climate Change, Banking, Business, Clean Energy, Climate Change, climate finance, Climate Justice, Energy, Environment, Finance, Governance, Hydroelectric Power, Politics, Pollution, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ADDIS ABABA — African leaders attending the Africa Climate Summit in Addis Ababa this week have called for a new global partnership that treats the continent as an engine of climate solutions rather than a recipient of aid. Summit host and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed set the tone at the opening on Sept. 8, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ADDIS ABABA — African leaders attending the Africa Climate Summit in Addis Ababa this week have called for a new global partnership that treats the continent as an engine of climate solutions rather than a recipient of aid. Summit host and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed set the tone at the opening on Sept. 8, declaring, “We are not here to negotiate our survival. We are here to design the world’s next climate economy.” The summit’s three-day program will focus on nature-based solutions, technology, and energy systems on day one; adaptation and resilience in the face of advancing climate change on day two; and conclude with a decisive focus on “financing African-led solutions” on day three. Summit organizers say the goal is to bridge the persistent gap between political pledges and bankable projects. To illustrate how this solutions-first framing can extend beyond speeches, the Ethiopian hosts are showcasing several domestic initiatives: a Green Legacy campaign the government says has planted more than 48 billion seedlings since 2019; a climate-resilient wheat program and nutrition drive, known as Yelemat Tirufat, intended to cut imports and raise rural incomes; and the imminent commissioning of the 5,000-megawatt Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam as a regional clean-power anchor. Abiy paired that domestic portfolio with a continental proposal: an African Climate Innovation Compact (ACIC) that would link universities, research centers, startups and communities, aiming to surface 1,000 African solutions by 2030, underpinned — at least aspirationally — by $50 billion a year in blended finance. Solar plant&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/leaders-pitch-homegrown-solutions-at-africa-climate-summit-and-100b-to-back-them/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305671</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Development banks under fire for backing disputed Nepal hydropower project</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/development-banks-under-fire-for-backing-disputed-nepal-hydropower-project/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/development-banks-under-fire-for-backing-disputed-nepal-hydropower-project/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Aug 2025 00:14:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/21145224/III-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304531</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Banking, Biodiversity, Conflict, Culture, Dams, Development, Environment, Forest Destruction, FPIC, Hydroelectric Power, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Infrastructure, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Rivers, Social Conflict, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nepal has long relied on hydropower projects to meet most of its energy needs, but recent complaints from Indigenous and local communities have cast a shadow over the development of some projects — particularly the Tanahu project. The project is being developed by Tanahu Hydropower Limited (THL), a subsidiary of the state-owned Nepal Electricity Authority [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nepal has long relied on hydropower projects to meet most of its energy needs, but recent complaints from Indigenous and local communities have cast a shadow over the development of some projects — particularly the Tanahu project. The project is being developed by Tanahu Hydropower Limited (THL), a subsidiary of the state-owned Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). It’s expected to be completed next year in Gandaki province. But for many members of communities in the affected area, “none of our demands have been fulfilled to this day,” says Til Bahadur Thapa Magar, chair of local campaign group the Tanahu Hydropower Project’s Struggle Committee. Local communities and Indigenous peoples say the project was implemented without proper consultation and failed to respect their rights to land, territory, and free, prior and informed consent (FPIC). In 2023, U.S.-based human rights watchdog Accountability Counsel documented a series of 16 complaints against hydropower projects in Nepal, many with funding from international institutions such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Investment Bank (EIB) and World Bank. These projects, including the Tanahu project, which is funded by the ADB and EIB, have been accused of failing to meet their due diligence requirements during the approval process. “Even though these projects have records of not fully adhering to environmental and social compliance and respecting Indigenous and community people’s rights and decisions, they [international development banks] keep supporting more and more projects,” said Sutharee Wannasiri, communities associate at the Accountability Counsel. A Magar local affected by the Tanahu Hydropower&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/development-banks-under-fire-for-backing-disputed-nepal-hydropower-project/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304531</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Most large banks failing to consider Indigenous rights</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/most-large-banks-failing-to-consider-indigenous-rights/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/most-large-banks-failing-to-consider-indigenous-rights/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Dec 2024 13:12:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/10/30102232/Jacob-Balzani_WampisNation_3500px_Extra_0307-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=291999</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Global, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Banking, Business, Environment, FPIC, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, and Indigenous Rights]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Major banks, including Citibank and JPMorgan Chase, are still failing to implement the full scope of U.N. human rights principles, a new report has found. The report by finance watchdog BankTrack evaluated the policies and practices of 50 major banks and found that most are failing to implement adequate safeguards in line with the U.N. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Major banks, including Citibank and JPMorgan Chase, are still failing to implement the full scope of U.N. human rights principles, a new report has found. The report by finance watchdog BankTrack evaluated the policies and practices of 50 major banks and found that most are failing to implement adequate safeguards in line with the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This is the fifth iteration of the international NGO’s benchmark series and, for the first time, banks were assessed against three new criteria from U.N. human rights declarations. These criteria consider policies and practices related to the rights of human rights defenders, Indigenous peoples’ rights to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) and the human right to a healthy environment. On human rights defenders, 82% of all banks fail to mention human rights defenders and their specific rights. While 66% of banks mention FPIC in their policies, none have processes in place to ensure that clients and investee companies respect it where it is required. Only three banks — Banco Santander, ING and Bank of America — explicitly acknowledge that environmental rights are human rights in their statements of policy. Waorani leader Nemonte Nenquimo stands next to an oil spill near Shushufindi, in the Sucumbíos province, Ecuadorian Amazon, on June 26, 2023. Image by Sophie Pinchetti (Amazon Frontlines). “Indigenous Peoples face disproportionate risks from the activities banks finance, yet banks are failing to implement adequate safeguards in line with their responsibilities,” Giulia Barbos, a human rights researcher and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/most-large-banks-failing-to-consider-indigenous-rights/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-291999</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Nicaragua, activists challenge the value of international ‘green’ financing</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/in-nicaragua-activists-challenge-the-value-of-international-green-financing/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/in-nicaragua-activists-challenge-the-value-of-international-green-financing/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Aug 2024 20:23:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/08/30200730/El_castillo_-_rio_san_juan-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=286811</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Banking, Biodiversity, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, climate finance, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Funding, Governance, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Politics, Rainforests, Research, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nicaragua has spent the last several years shuttering over a thousand civil society organizations, universities, media outlets and other organizations, often for criticizing President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo. Their government has been sanctioned for acts of repression and human rights abuses, and the state-run mining company has been blocked from [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nicaragua has spent the last several years shuttering over a thousand civil society organizations, universities, media outlets and other organizations, often for criticizing President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo. Their government has been sanctioned for acts of repression and human rights abuses, and the state-run mining company has been blocked from global trade by many major importers. Some of the worst abuses are happening along the country’s Caribbean coast, where Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities continue to fend off land grabbing in ancestral rainforests ripe for mining, logging and agriculture. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has held numerous hearings accusing the regime of exacerbating the issue. Yet at the same time, the government continues to pursue “green financing” through the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA) as well as international backers like the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Global Environment Facility (GEF), among others. Environmentalists in the country are concerned about how that money is used given the government’s track record. They want to make sense of a regime they believe has exploited the country’s natural resources while continuing to accept funding for conservation projects. “On the one hand, we have a commitment from the international community, from financial organizations, for the conservation of those territories. On the other hand, we have an internal policy of destruction,” said Amaru Ruiz Alemán, head of Fundación Del Río, an organization that monitors land invasions and environmental issues in Nicaragua. A home in Bosawás, Nicaragua.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/in-nicaragua-activists-challenge-the-value-of-international-green-financing/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-286811</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Weak banking regulations leave two-thirds of Amazon vulnerable to oil and gas</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/weak-banking-regulations-leave-two-thirds-of-amazon-vulnerable-to-oil-and-gas/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/weak-banking-regulations-leave-two-thirds-of-amazon-vulnerable-to-oil-and-gas/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jun 2024 16:23:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/06/11160511/Oil-and-Gas-Image-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=283125</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Ecuador, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Banking, Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Energy, Environment, Environmental Law, Finance, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Natural Gas, Oil, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[There are hundreds of oil and gas operations across the Amazon Rainforest. And while critics have gone after them for reckless environmental damage, those companies also don’t work alone. They need support from big banks that provide direct funding through loans and underwriting bonds, which themselves need to be regulated, critics say. In recent years, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[There are hundreds of oil and gas operations across the Amazon Rainforest. And while critics have gone after them for reckless environmental damage, those companies also don’t work alone. They need support from big banks that provide direct funding through loans and underwriting bonds, which themselves need to be regulated, critics say. In recent years, increasing pressure on the banks has led to new environmental policies meant to minimize financing for projects tied to deforestation, pollution and human rights violations. The banks tend to celebrate their policies for being ambitious and effective. But many environmental groups say they’re actually far from adequate, and even amount to greenwashing. A joint investigation by several conservation groups looked at more than 560 financial transactions involving more than 280 banks and 80 oil and gas companies working in the Amazon, concluding that what the banks claim to be doing for the environment is far from the “true impacts of their policies.” In fact, some of the biggest bankrollers of oil and gas (Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, Itaú Unibanco, Santander and Bank of America) only apply their policies to about a third of the rainforest, leaving the rest vulnerable to potential environmental destruction. The areas where the policies do apply still aren’t completely protected, the report said. “Through their deceptive policies and empty promises, these banks are attempting to greenwash oil and gas extraction in the Amazon, and obscure the destructive impacts of their ecosystem-devastating investments,” said report co-author Angeline Robertson, senior investigative researcher at Stand.earth.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/weak-banking-regulations-leave-two-thirds-of-amazon-vulnerable-to-oil-and-gas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/weak-banking-regulations-leave-two-thirds-of-amazon-vulnerable-to-oil-and-gas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-283125</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Banks backing Mekong hydropower failing on due diligence, report reveals</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/banks-backing-mekong-hydropower-failing-on-due-diligence-report-reveals/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/banks-backing-mekong-hydropower-failing-on-due-diligence-report-reveals/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 May 2024 14:01:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/05/20134939/Xayaburi_WA-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=282281</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Laos, Mekong Basin, Southeast Asia, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Banking, Business, Conservation, Dams, Ecosystems, Environment, Finance, Fisheries, Freshwater, Funding, Governance, Hydroelectric Power, Industry, Infrastructure, Politics, Rivers, Tropics, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Major banks operating in Thailand and Vietnam aren’t doing enough to address the environmental and human rights consequences of their investments in large-scale hydropower dams along the Mekong River, according to a new report. The report, by Fair Finance Asia, a network of more than 90 civil society organizations led by Oxfam, and Netherlands-based sustainability [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Major banks operating in Thailand and Vietnam aren’t doing enough to address the environmental and human rights consequences of their investments in large-scale hydropower dams along the Mekong River, according to a new report. The report, by Fair Finance Asia, a network of more than 90 civil society organizations led by Oxfam, and Netherlands-based sustainability research organization Profundo, scrutinized the policies of three banks based in Thailand and three based in Vietnam, including their capacity to uphold their publicly stated environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments. The findings reveal regulatory shortcomings at national and regional levels that fail to hold banks accountable for their investment decisions. The report also uncovered a lack of meaningful implementation of international standards in environmental and human rights among Mekong hydropower funders. Given that the power purchase agreements that essentially greenlight hydropower projects ultimately hinge on the availability of long-term funding, the report says banks and investors play an important role in ensuring that environmental and social safeguards are implemented by companies during the construction, operation and decommissioning of hydropower plants. The water in Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia, home of one of the world’s largest inland fisheries, is channeled from the Mekong and its tributary during the wet season. Image by Carolyn Cowan/Mongabay. Experts are calling on banks and investors to adopt more sustainable banking policies and practices when deciding which projects to support. In particular, they call on the region’s financial institutions to align their practices with international standards. “Large hydropower infrastructure projects&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/banks-backing-mekong-hydropower-failing-on-due-diligence-report-reveals/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/banks-backing-mekong-hydropower-failing-on-due-diligence-report-reveals/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-282281</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>World Bank still backs coal in Asia, despite climate claims, report reveals</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/world-bank-still-backs-coal-in-asia-despite-climate-claims-report-reveals/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/world-bank-still-backs-coal-in-asia-despite-climate-claims-report-reveals/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Oct 2023 18:36:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/05155906/Coal_01_RAB-e1696521592918-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273991</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Banking, Climate, Climate Change, Coal, Degraded Lands, Divestment, Energy, Environment, Finance, Fossil Fuels, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Habitat Loss, Land Rights, Mining, Pollution, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The World Bank continues to indirectly finance some of Asia’s largest coal developers despite its pledges to stop doing so and align with the Paris Agreement, according to a new report from environmental and economic watchdogs. The report, by Inclusive Development International, Recourse and Indonesia-based civil society organization Trend Asia, shows that the World Bank’s [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The World Bank continues to indirectly finance some of Asia’s largest coal developers despite its pledges to stop doing so and align with the Paris Agreement, according to a new report from environmental and economic watchdogs. The report, by Inclusive Development International, Recourse and Indonesia-based civil society organization Trend Asia, shows that the World Bank’s private sector subsidiary, the International Financial Corporation (IFC), invested in banks and other financial institutions that are funding at least 39 coal developments that could generate more than 68 gigawatts of new coal-powered capacity throughout China, Indonesia and Cambodia. “This is the opposite of the sustainable development that IFC purports to promote, and it is having a devastating impact on coal-affected communities throughout Asia and the entire planet in this time of climate peril,” David Pred, executive director of Inclusive Development International, said in a statement. In 2013, the World Bank committed to withdraw from coal and later pledged to align its investments with the Paris Agreement. A 2019 Green Equity Strategy, which compels the multilateral lender’s client banks to halve their coal exposure by 2025 and eliminate it from their portfolios by 2030, was initially welcomed by observers. However, the presence of “loopholes and gray areas” in the strategy enables IFC clients to continue to funnel capital to coal developers and coal-powered industrial projects, the report says. Coal on a barge near Tanjung Redeb in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Image by Rhett A. Butler for Mongabay The report follows formal complaints lodged against the IFC&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/world-bank-still-backs-coal-in-asia-despite-climate-claims-report-reveals/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/world-bank-still-backs-coal-in-asia-despite-climate-claims-report-reveals/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-273991</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Report links financial giants to deforestation of Paraguay’s Gran Chaco</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/report-links-financial-giants-to-deforestation-of-paraguays-gran-chaco/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/report-links-financial-giants-to-deforestation-of-paraguays-gran-chaco/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Apr 2023 18:01:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/06/09151841/JAGUAR-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267465</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation and Land rights and extractives]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Paraguay, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Banking, Beef, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Culture, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environmental Law, Finance, Food, Food Industry, Forests, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Law, Meat, Supply Chain, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Some of the world’s largest banks and financial institutions are helping to finance beef companies linked to the destruction of the Paraguayan Gran Chaco, according to a report published by rights group Global Witness. It lists investment giants BlackRock and Vanguard; lenders BNP Paribas, HSBC, Santander, J.P. Morgan and Bank of America; and pension fund [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Some of the world’s largest banks and financial institutions are helping to finance beef companies linked to the destruction of the Paraguayan Gran Chaco, according to a report published by rights group Global Witness. It lists investment giants BlackRock and Vanguard; lenders BNP Paribas, HSBC, Santander, J.P. Morgan and Bank of America; and pension fund APG as among the institutions that hold large investments in companies linked to illegal deforestation and land-grabbing. “Our new investigation shows that banks are continuing to service and hold equity in companies linked to deforestation and human rights abuses, even when they made public pledges not to,” says the report, titled “Cash, Cattle and the Gran Chaco: How financiers turned a blind eye to Paraguay’s deforestation crisis.” Even after it was made public in 2020 that deforestation had entered the beef companies’ supply chains, the financial institutions “continued to hold and even accelerate investments.” Deforestation in the Chaco for cattle ranching. Image by Earthsight. Paraguay’s Gran Chaco region is home to the second-largest forest in South America, covering around 60% of Paraguay, as well as areas of Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil. It has one of the highest rates of tropical deforestation in the world, with Paraguay losing a quarter of its net forest cover between 2000 and 2020, or an estimated 5.2 million hectares (12.8 million acres) — an area almost twice the size of Belgium. The primary driver of deforestation in the Gran Chaco is cattle ranching. This sustained loss, despite the Gran Chaco&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/report-links-financial-giants-to-deforestation-of-paraguays-gran-chaco/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/report-links-financial-giants-to-deforestation-of-paraguays-gran-chaco/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-267465</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>U.S. firm quits Indonesian gasification project in major blow to coal ambitions</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/u-s-firm-quits-indonesian-gasification-project-in-major-blow-to-coal-ambitions/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/u-s-firm-quits-indonesian-gasification-project-in-major-blow-to-coal-ambitions/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Apr 2023 12:23:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nithin Coca]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/04/04115659/coal-east-kalimantan-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267204</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Banking, Business, Carbon Emissions, charcoal, Climate, Climate Change, climate finance, Coal, Emission Reduction, Energy, Environment, Finance, Fossil Fuels, Fossils, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Industry, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia&#8217;s plans to develop a coal gasification industry have been thrown into doubt following the withdrawal of a major foreign investor. During an investor call in late March, U.S.-based Air Products and Chemicals, a leading provider of coal gasification technology, confirmed it had withdrawn from all of its projects in Indonesia, including a planned facility [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia&#8217;s plans to develop a coal gasification industry have been thrown into doubt following the withdrawal of a major foreign investor. During an investor call in late March, U.S.-based Air Products and Chemicals, a leading provider of coal gasification technology, confirmed it had withdrawn from all of its projects in Indonesia, including a planned facility in Bengalon, East Kalimantan province, and a $2.3 billion plant in Muara Enim, South Sumatra province, that broke ground in early 2022. The news, less than a year and a half after the investment deals were signed, is a stunning setback to the country’s ambitious plans to turn coal into dimethyl ether (DME) and create new market demand for domestically mined coal. “The timing was quite surprising,” said Andri Prasetiyo, program manager at Trend Asia, an Indonesian nonprofit that advocates for accelerating the transition to clean energy. “The Indonesia government claimed the project was ongoing, as a national strategic project.” Area cleared for coal mining in Borneo, East Kalimantan. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. Coal gasification is a century-old technology in which coal is converted into a gas that can then be used for industrial or transportation purposes. DME made from Indonesia’s coal-to-gas plants would, in theory, be used as an alternative fuel in industrial, chemical or transportation applications, replacing imported liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The economics of coal gasification in Indonesia have been challenging since the beginning, and rising inflation has only made matters worse, said Ghee Peh, an energy finance analyst at the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/u-s-firm-quits-indonesian-gasification-project-in-major-blow-to-coal-ambitions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-267204</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesian banks prop up coal industry increasingly shunned by outside lenders</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/10/indonesian-banks-prop-up-coal-industry-increasingly-shunned-by-outside-lenders/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/10/indonesian-banks-prop-up-coal-industry-increasingly-shunned-by-outside-lenders/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Oct 2022 14:07:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/08/26091749/10-Suralaya-coal-fired-power-plant-in-Indonesia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=261344</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Banking, Carbon Emissions, charcoal, Climate, Climate Change, climate finance, Coal, Emission Reduction, Energy, Environment, Finance, Fossil Fuels, Fossils, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia&#8217;s four largest banks handed out loans totaling $3.5 billion of direct loans to the coal industry from 2015-2021, despite their stated commitments to sustainable financial practices, a new report shows. The report by a coalition of civil society groups looked at loans made by BNI, BRI and Bank Mandiri, all state-owned lenders, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia&#8217;s four largest banks handed out loans totaling $3.5 billion of direct loans to the coal industry from 2015-2021, despite their stated commitments to sustainable financial practices, a new report shows. The report by a coalition of civil society groups looked at loans made by BNI, BRI and Bank Mandiri, all state-owned lenders, and BCA, the biggest private sector bank in the country. The four banks were pioneers of sustainable financing initiative in Indonesia back in 2018 together with WWF. Under the Indonesia Sustainable Finance Initiative (IKBI), these banks aim to implement sustainable finance practices and integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into their operations. The initiative also acknowledges the crucial role that financial institutions play in climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts. To look at whether the four banks are walking the talk, the coalition studied the annual reports of the 24 coal companies that are listed on the stock exchange in Indonesia. It found that they received $3.5 billion in direct loans from the four banks since 2015. The biggest lender to the companies studied is Bank Mandiri, which is also the largest bank in Indonesia. It issued $3.19 billion in loans to 10 coal companies between 2015 and 2021. Yet Bank Mandiri stated in its 2020 annual report that it no longer funds businesses or projects that harm the environment. And in its 2021 sustainability report, it said it’s moving towards carbon neutrality through strengthening ecosystems and green taxonomy. But the same sustainability report&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/10/indonesian-banks-prop-up-coal-industry-increasingly-shunned-by-outside-lenders/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-261344</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As stronger storms hit Bangladesh farmers, banks are climate collateral damage</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/as-stronger-storms-hit-bangladesh-farmers-banks-are-climate-collateral-damage/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/as-stronger-storms-hit-bangladesh-farmers-banks-are-climate-collateral-damage/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Aug 2022 12:30:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maksuda Aziz]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/08/15120402/cyclone-amphan-in-bangladesh-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=259194</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Agriculture, Banking, Climate, Climate Change, Disasters, Economics, Environment, Extreme Weather, Farming, Finance, Food, Global Warming, Impact Of Climate Change, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Sea Levels, Storms, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[DHAKA — Wasim Ali, 45, lived in one of the 55,000 houses destroyed by the deadly Super Cyclone Amphan in May of 2020. The tropical storm whipped up a tidal surge that swept away his house and razed his small farm, measuring just 0.4 hectares (1 acre). Thousands of people were left destitute after this [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[DHAKA — Wasim Ali, 45, lived in one of the 55,000 houses destroyed by the deadly Super Cyclone Amphan in May of 2020. The tropical storm whipped up a tidal surge that swept away his house and razed his small farm, measuring just 0.4 hectares (1 acre). Thousands of people were left destitute after this massive natural disaster. But for Wasim Ali, a resident of Protapnagar in Bangladesh’s southwestern Satkhira district, the misery runs deeper. In addition to the loss of his home and farm, the disaster also left him with no way to pay back a debt of 42,000 takas ($440), an amount he’d borrowed from a bank as an agricultural loan. He’d pledged his farmland as collateral, and says he’s now afraid to face the bank’s officials. &#8220;I can barely support my family of five on the small piece of land I managed to squeeze out since the disaster. It is impossible to repay the loan against a piece of land that does not even exist anymore,” Wasim says. Wiped-out collateral Nearly a third of Bangladesh’s total land mass lies in its coastal zone, spanning 47,201 square kilometers (18,224 square miles), according to a study. This zone is home to about 35 million people, or 29% of the country’s population. These communities are heavily dependent on agriculture, working on their small, fragmented lands. In a form of short-term assistance, the government makes available up to 50,000 takas (about $530) in agriculture loans to individual small farmers, disbursed through&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/as-stronger-storms-hit-bangladesh-farmers-banks-are-climate-collateral-damage/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-259194</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Big banks fund the heavy machinery used for Amazon deforestation, report says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/big-banks-fund-the-heavy-machinery-used-for-amazon-deforestation-report-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/big-banks-fund-the-heavy-machinery-used-for-amazon-deforestation-report-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2022 09:00:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/08/03173323/FEATURE-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=258859</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Banking, Conservation, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forests, Governance, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Mining, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The deforestation sweeping across the Brazilian Amazon is driven largely by industrial agriculture, mining and cattle ranching. But those activities wouldn’t be possible without heavy machinery like bulldozers and tractors, and the big banks that often finance their purchase. Questionable business practices, weak government oversight and a lack of transparency make buying heavy machinery in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The deforestation sweeping across the Brazilian Amazon is driven largely by industrial agriculture, mining and cattle ranching. But those activities wouldn’t be possible without heavy machinery like bulldozers and tractors, and the big banks that often finance their purchase. Questionable business practices, weak government oversight and a lack of transparency make buying heavy machinery in the Amazon extraordinarily easy, according to a new report from investigative journalism outlet Repórter Brasil. In a recent investigation, it found that the heavy machinery market continues to go mostly overlooked in the fight to save the world’s largest rainforest. “When you see photos of deforestation, those big areas were opened up by machines,” report co-author Naira Hofmeister told Mongabay. “It’s an under-covered issue, and we felt that we should investigate starting from the machines themselves.” Heavy machinery on the Kayapó Indigenous territory in Brazil. (Photo courtesy of Ibamagov/Flickr) Last year, nearly 30,000 motor graders, road rollers, backhoe loaders, wheel loaders and other types of construction equipment were sold in Brazil by some of the world’s most leading manufacturers, including Caterpillar, Komatsu, John Deere, Hitachi and Sandvik, among others. In the agricultural sector, there was a 40% increase in sales from the previous year. In general, the use of machines of all sizes and types has been on the rise in the Brazilian Amazon over the past decade, often in protected areas and Indigenous territories, the report said. “These are machines that are able to dig very quickly and cover a large area,” Hofmeister said.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/big-banks-fund-the-heavy-machinery-used-for-amazon-deforestation-report-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-258859</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Planned coal plants fizzle as Japan ends financing in Indonesia, Bangladesh</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/planned-coal-plants-fizzle-as-japan-ends-financing-in-indonesia-bangladesh/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/planned-coal-plants-fizzle-as-japan-ends-financing-in-indonesia-bangladesh/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jun 2022 11:47:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/06/28113737/PLN-PLTU-Indramayu-Cuk-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=257724</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, East Asia, Indonesia, Japan, Java, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and West Java]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Banking, charcoal, Climate, Climate Change, climate finance, Coal, Energy, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Fossils, Funding, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Major coal-fired power plant projects in Indonesia and Bangladesh have effectively been cancelled after the Japanese government, their main funder, recently announced it would stop providing loans to build such plants in the two countries. For Indonesia in particular, the move also means the loss of the top three foreign funders of coal [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Major coal-fired power plant projects in Indonesia and Bangladesh have effectively been cancelled after the Japanese government, their main funder, recently announced it would stop providing loans to build such plants in the two countries. For Indonesia in particular, the move also means the loss of the top three foreign funders of coal plants in the country, after similar decisions by China and South Korea. The projects affected by Japan’s decision are the Matarbari 2 coal expansion project in Bangladesh and a plan to build two additional 1,000-megawatt coal-fired units at the Indramayu coal plant in Indonesia. Both Indonesia and Bangladesh had been conducting surveys for the projects with Japan’s backing, but construction hasn’t commenced for either project. On June 22, the Japanese Foreign Ministry announced at a press conference that Tokyo has decided to withdraw financing for both projects. In light of the announcement, Bangladesh’s energy minister, Nasrul Hamid, said the Matarbari 2 project had been scrapped. &#8220;We have already cancelled the plan of Matarbari phase-2,” he told local media. “We plan to build an LNG-based power plant. The plant will be interconnected with the LNG [liquified natural gas] terminal.” In 2021, the Bangladeshi government also canceled plans to build 10 coal power plants, which were expected to pull in about $10 billion in investments. In Indonesia, the $4billion Indramayu project is also likely to be scrapped, the government has indicated. Wanhar, director of electricity program supervision at the country’s energy ministry, said the Indramayu project is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/planned-coal-plants-fizzle-as-japan-ends-financing-in-indonesia-bangladesh/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/planned-coal-plants-fizzle-as-japan-ends-financing-in-indonesia-bangladesh/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-257724</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>U.N., rights groups flag potential violations in $3b Indonesian tourism project</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/u-n-rights-groups-flag-potential-violations-in-3b-indonesian-tourism-project/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/u-n-rights-groups-flag-potential-violations-in-3b-indonesian-tourism-project/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 May 2022 14:37:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/05/25140036/foto-A-3-2048x1423-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=256330</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and West Nusa Tenggara]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Banking, Conflict, Environment, FPIC, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Infrastructure, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Social Conflict, and Tourism]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — The United Nations has reiterated its concerns over allegations of human rights violations in a mega infrastructure tourism development project on the Indonesian island of Lombok. In light of this, various environmental and human rights organizations have called on the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to stop financing the project. The $3 billion [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — The United Nations has reiterated its concerns over allegations of human rights violations in a mega infrastructure tourism development project on the Indonesian island of Lombok. In light of this, various environmental and human rights organizations have called on the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to stop financing the project. The $3 billion project is located in the Mandalika coastal region in southern Lombok, an island next to the better-known tourism hotspot of Bali. The project aims to turn Mandalika into what the government calls a “New Bali” with the construction of parks, resorts, hotels, and a racetrack that earlier this year hosted the first MotoGP series bike race in Indonesia. The government and project proponents, including its main funder, the AIIB, say the project will promote the development of ecotourism in Mandalika and contribute to poverty alleviation on the island. U.N. rights experts, however, last year highlighted the project’s impact, citing instances of local communities being evicted, and houses, fields, water sources, cultural and religious sites being destroyed to make way for the project. Since then, the government and others have responded to the concerns, saying that they had conducted a verification and settlement process to resolve land disputes. They say these settlement efforts were conducted in a transparent manner and were made under the voluntary and genuine approval of the affected communities. The government said the local communities affected by the project have been properly compensated and that the land settlement process has been resolved. In&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/u-n-rights-groups-flag-potential-violations-in-3b-indonesian-tourism-project/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/u-n-rights-groups-flag-potential-violations-in-3b-indonesian-tourism-project/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-256330</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Banks bet big on coal in Indonesia, bucking global shift away from fossil fuel</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/banks-bet-big-on-coal-in-indonesia-bucking-global-shift-away-from-fossil-fuel/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/banks-bet-big-on-coal-in-indonesia-bucking-global-shift-away-from-fossil-fuel/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 May 2022 09:10:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/03/30113455/coal-mining-in-indonesia-kalimantan-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=255750</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Kalimantan, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Banking, Business, Climate Change, climate finance, Coal, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Energy, Environment, Finance, Fossil Fuels, Fossils, Mining, and Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — A surge in coal prices is driving a wave of bank loans to miners in Indonesia, the world&#8217;s fifth-largest coal producer and top exporter. By continuing to finance the fossil fuel industry, banks like Citigroup, BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered are making it harder for Indonesia to transition to clean, renewable energy, analysts [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — A surge in coal prices is driving a wave of bank loans to miners in Indonesia, the world&#8217;s fifth-largest coal producer and top exporter. By continuing to finance the fossil fuel industry, banks like Citigroup, BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered are making it harder for Indonesia to transition to clean, renewable energy, analysts say. “Now that there’s a surge in commodity prices, banks are rushing to channel loans to mining companies [to procure] heavy equipment or capital,” Bhima Yudhistira Adinegara, director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS), a Jakarta-based think tank, said in a recent online press conference. Data from Indonesia’s financial regulator, the OJK, show that lenders channeled 26.83% more money to the country’s mining industry in January 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. The increase is much higher than the year-on-year growth in overall loans of 5.79%. It comes as global coal prices are hitting record highs, more than $400 per metric ton, as a result of global uncertainty over energy supplies due to the Ukraine conflict and sanctions on Russia, which accounts for around 20% of global thermal coal exports. Between 2016 and 2021, about $16 billion in credit went to mining companies in Southeast Asia, according to data from finance monitoring platform Forests &amp; Finance. The top five lenders identified in the data set are Citigroup, BNP Paribas, SMBC Group, MUFG, and Standard Chartered. In Indonesia, the boom in lending is especially pronounced in the province of East Kalimantan,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/banks-bet-big-on-coal-in-indonesia-bucking-global-shift-away-from-fossil-fuel/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/banks-bet-big-on-coal-in-indonesia-bucking-global-shift-away-from-fossil-fuel/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-255750</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Gates Foundation among investors backing troubled DRC palm plantation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/gates-foundation-among-investors-backing-troubled-drc-palm-plantation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/gates-foundation-among-investors-backing-troubled-drc-palm-plantation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Feb 2022 13:38:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Ashoka]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/02/08132920/42538237125_d0e088cde2_k-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=252463</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Banking, Finance, Forests, Human Rights, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Palm Oil, and Plantations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Bill &#38; Melinda Gates Foundation along with a number of prominent U.S. university endowments are among the top investors in a troubled set of oil palm plantations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a report from the Oakland Institute. Researchers with the group told Mongabay that in the past year, incidents of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation along with a number of prominent U.S. university endowments are among the top investors in a troubled set of oil palm plantations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a report from the Oakland Institute. Researchers with the group told Mongabay that in the past year, incidents of brutality by police and security guards against local villagers and workers at the plantations had increased. “We have a long history of abuses, but this last year has been really, really bad and actually there has been an increase in violence and repression of local communities,” said Frédéric Mousseau, policy director at the Oakland Institute. The plantations lie in the remote, forested north of the DRC, and are operated by Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC). They were originally established in 1911 when the British industrialist William Lever, founder of Unilever, received a grant of land from Belgian colonial authorities then occupying the Congo. Some of the rural villagers living on that land were subsequently pressed into forced labor on the plantations. In 2009, Unilever sold its stake in PHC’s 100,000-hectare (247,000-acre) oil palm holdings to the Canadian company Feronia, who received $150 million from European development banks to finance the venture. But after a decade of deep losses caused in part by a crash in the price of palm oil, Feronia declared bankruptcy. With assistance from the banks, in 2019 the bulk of PHR’s ownership was sold at a bargain valuation to Kuramo Capital Management&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/gates-foundation-among-investors-backing-troubled-drc-palm-plantation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/gates-foundation-among-investors-backing-troubled-drc-palm-plantation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-252463</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Banking on deforestation: Top lenders make $1.7b from agribusiness deals</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/banking-on-deforestation-top-lenders-make-1-7b-from-agribusiness-deals/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/banking-on-deforestation-top-lenders-make-1-7b-from-agribusiness-deals/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Oct 2021 15:14:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawahare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Genevieve Belmaker]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/10/28145733/strike-against-banks-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=248697</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Banking, Business, Conservation, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Politics, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, and Threats To Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In February, JPMorgan, the biggest bank in the U.S., organized an online event on &#8220;The Amazon rainforest and you,&#8221; promoting sustainable investment. Now, a new report says the bank reaped nearly $57 million through investments linked to forest destruction in the past five years. These investments would make JPMorgan the top financier of deforestation in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In February, JPMorgan, the biggest bank in the U.S., organized an online event on &#8220;The Amazon rainforest and you,&#8221; promoting sustainable investment. Now, a new report says the bank reaped nearly $57 million through investments linked to forest destruction in the past five years. These investments would make JPMorgan the top financier of deforestation in the U.S., EU, U.K. and China. Between 2016 and 2020, JPMorgan and peers like the U.K.&#8217;s HSBC, Germany&#8217;s Deutsche Bank, France’s BNP Paribas, the Dutch Rabobank, and the Bank of China pumped billions into agribusiness companies that drive forest loss and profited from them. Together, they made $1.74 billion from tainted investments, a Global Witness investigation has found. &#8220;There is no more striking example of climate injustice than big financial institutions headquartered in banking centers like London, Paris and New York raking in eye-watering sums while they bankroll the destruction of the land, homes and livelihoods of communities who have safeguarded their forests for generations and are among the lowest greenhouse gas emitters in the world,&#8221; Shona Hawkes, senior global policy adviser on forests at Global Witness, said in a statement. U.S.-based financial institutions alone netted $538 million by doing business with companies accused of clearing forests. In Europe, the worst offenders were in the Netherlands, France, Spain, Germany and Italy. Rabobank generated an estimated $76.2 million, while BNP Paribas made around $37 million from questionable agricultural investments. More than 220,000 people globally signed the petition urging HSBC to stop funding six palm oil corporations&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/banking-on-deforestation-top-lenders-make-1-7b-from-agribusiness-deals/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-248697</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ugandan activists’ arrest slammed as threat to space for rights defenders</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/ugandan-activists-arrest-slammed-as-threat-to-space-for-rights-defenders/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/ugandan-activists-arrest-slammed-as-threat-to-space-for-rights-defenders/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Oct 2021 14:55:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/10/28144733/AFIEGOcrop-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=248694</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Banking, Biodiversity, Carbon Emissions, Conservation, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Lakes, NGOs, Oil, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The recent arrests of staff of a Ugandan civil society organization, the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO), have been criticized as an attempt to stifle defenders of human rights and the environment in the East African country. AFIEGO has been prominent in campaigns against sugarcane plantations in the country’s western Bugoma Forest, as well [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The recent arrests of staff of a Ugandan civil society organization, the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO), have been criticized as an attempt to stifle defenders of human rights and the environment in the East African country. AFIEGO has been prominent in campaigns against sugarcane plantations in the country’s western Bugoma Forest, as well as defending the rights of communities affected by Uganda&#8217;s growing oil industry. Six members of AFIEGO&#8217;s staff — including a breastfeeding mother and another in need of regular treatment for a chronic medical condition — were arrested on Friday, Oct. 22, and held over the weekend. They were previously arrested on Oct. 13, then released on bail. They were detained again when they reported to a police station in the capital, Kampala, in line with their bail conditions; though no charges were laid against them, they were held for longer than the 48-hour maximum permitted under Ugandan law. Police said the staffers were arrested for operating a nongovernmental organization without a permit — a legal requirement for NGOs in Uganda introduced in 2016. In August, the NGO Bureau, which issues the permits, ordered AFIEGO and more than 50 other organizations to cease operations. Speaking after his release on Monday, the organization&#8217;s CEO, Dickens Kamugisha, himself a lawyer, said that operating without a permit is not an offense under any the NGO Act or the penal code. “There is a penalty in the form of a fine but it is not an offense. So that is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/ugandan-activists-arrest-slammed-as-threat-to-space-for-rights-defenders/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/ugandan-activists-arrest-slammed-as-threat-to-space-for-rights-defenders/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-248694</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Links to coal mining add to Indonesian palm oil sector’s risk for buyers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/links-to-coal-mining-add-to-indonesian-palm-oil-sectors-risk-for-buyers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/links-to-coal-mining-add-to-indonesian-palm-oil-sectors-risk-for-buyers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Sep 2021 14:05:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/06/09143728/indonesia_20151276-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=247549</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Kalimantan, North Maluku, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Banking, Business, charcoal, Coal, Deforestation, Environment, Finance, Forests, Mining, Palm Oil, Plantations, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Consumer goods behemoths such as Unilever, PepsiCo and Nestlé that buy palm oil from Indonesia may be exposed to the environmental and social fallout from a seemingly unrelated industry there: coal mining. That’s because of the substantial overlap between the mining and palm oil industries, with at least 13 corporate groups having both [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Consumer goods behemoths such as Unilever, PepsiCo and Nestlé that buy palm oil from Indonesia may be exposed to the environmental and social fallout from a seemingly unrelated industry there: coal mining. That’s because of the substantial overlap between the mining and palm oil industries, with at least 13 corporate groups having both large mining and palm oil businesses, according to a report by Washington, D.C.-based sustainability risk analysis organization Chain Reaction Research (CRR). It shows that six of the 10 largest oil palm companies in Indonesia also have mining businesses, while five of the 10 largest coal miners in the country also have palm oil businesses. Report co-author Albert ten Kate, a researcher at Amsterdam-based sustainability consultancy Aidenvironment, said the information showing this overlap isn’t readily available to the public, and thus the researchers decided to compile them in the report. He said this situation might be unique to Indonesia and, to some extent, Malaysia. The two Southeast Asian countries produce 85% of the world’s palm oil, a ubiquitous ingredient in processed foods, cosmetics and biodiesel. “For Mid and South America, Africa and Thailand [which grow palm oil], there is no such overlap,” ten Kate told Mongabay. “In Malaysia also less than in Indonesia, yet for example the Sarawak conglomerate Rimbunan Hijau has mining activities.” CRR’s report identifies 13 groups in Indonesia that are heavily invested in both industries as: Sinar Mas (whose palm oil arm is Golden Agri-Resources); Keswick family (Astra Agro Lestari); Harita Group (Bumitama);&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/links-to-coal-mining-add-to-indonesian-palm-oil-sectors-risk-for-buyers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-247549</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bank risk policies failing to protect Amazon from oil-related threats: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/bank-risk-policies-failing-to-protect-amazon-from-oil-related-threats-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/bank-risk-policies-failing-to-protect-amazon-from-oil-related-threats-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2021 15:39:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Ashoka]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/02/01224057/0330a-cuninico-3_900-495x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=244818</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Banking, Conservation, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corruption, Forest Destruction, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Oil, Rainforests, Saving Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[U.S. and European banks are invested in oil extraction that threatens the Amazon biome, and their environmental and social risk (ESR) policies aren’t strong enough to prevent its worst impacts, says a new report by Amazon Watch and Stand.Earth. The report assigned scores to 14 banks that were based on an analysis of their ESR [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[U.S. and European banks are invested in oil extraction that threatens the Amazon biome, and their environmental and social risk (ESR) policies aren’t strong enough to prevent its worst impacts, says a new report by Amazon Watch and Stand.Earth. The report assigned scores to 14 banks that were based on an analysis of their ESR policies and their current portfolio of investments. Eleven were listed as being at “high” or “very high” risk of contributing to deforestation, corruption, pollution, and the violation of Indigenous rights. “A lot of banks have deforestation commitments related to their forest and agricultural policies, but they didn’t extend these to the oil sector policies they drafted,” said Angeline Robertson, a senior researcher with Stand.Earth and co-author of the report. The worst offenders, called “laggards” in the report, were JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, and Deutsche Bank. They received low marks due to the relative weakness of their ESR policies along with their high exposure to investments in the Amazon oil trade. Deutsche Bank, for example, was cited as having particularly weak biodiversity protection policies to go along with its large investments in state oil companies like Brazil’s Petrobras, Ecuador’s PetroAmazonas, and Colombia’s Ecopetrol. Conversely, Dutch banks Rabobank, ABN AMRO, and ING were listed as having a combination of relatively strong risk management policies and low exposure to the Amazon oil trade. Still, no bank among the 14 earned higher than a “B” in the report’s scorecard. Where some of the banks did have exclusion policies preventing them&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/bank-risk-policies-failing-to-protect-amazon-from-oil-related-threats-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/bank-risk-policies-failing-to-protect-amazon-from-oil-related-threats-report/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-244818</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Banks increased deforestation-linked investments by $8B during Covid-19: report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/banks-increased-deforestation-linked-investments-by-8b-during-covid-19-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/banks-increased-deforestation-linked-investments-by-8b-during-covid-19-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jun 2021 20:03:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Daniel]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/09/02191203/9-GP0STURQM_AmazonFiresAug20_PressMedia-768x512-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=243732</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Central Africa, Indonesia, Latin America, Malaysia, South America, Southeast Asia, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Banking, Commodity agriculture, Conservation, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Finance, Forests, Logging, Palm Oil, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Research, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The world’s 50 largest financial institutions increased their investments in deforestation-linked commodity companies by more than $8 billion since the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, a new report has found.  The research, published last week by Forests &#38; Finance, a coalition of non-governmental groups, also ranked more than 50 financial institutions based on their [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The world’s 50 largest financial institutions increased their investments in deforestation-linked commodity companies by more than $8 billion since the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, a new report has found.  The research, published last week by Forests &amp; Finance, a coalition of non-governmental groups, also ranked more than 50 financial institutions based on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies, their investments and the financial guarantees they provide to firms operating in forest-risk sectors.  Researchers analyzed financial records of more than 200 companies to track deals in Southeast Asia, Latin America and West and Central Africa, publishing the updated results in a publicly available database.  They found that compared to the previous year, the total value of investments in forest-risk commodity companies rose by more than 21%, or $8.1 billion.  Major banks and investors such as Bank of America, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street all received low scores in the index.  The top investors by region included in the Forests &amp; Finance database. Source: Forests &amp; Finance. The data on investments covered financial institutions directly involved in the beef, soy, palm oil, pulp and paper, rubber and tropical timber supply chains, including $128 billion of underwriting of deforestation-linked commodity projects between 2016 and 2020 and $28 billion of investment up to April 2021.  Forests &amp; Finance concluded that the policies of the 50 most significant financiers were “collectively very weak,” averaging just 24% in the rankings. Nine financial institutions scored above 50%, with&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/banks-increased-deforestation-linked-investments-by-8b-during-covid-19-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/banks-increased-deforestation-linked-investments-by-8b-during-covid-19-report/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-243732</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Chinese banks pouring billions into deforestation-linked firms, report says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/chinese-banks-pouring-billions-into-deforestation-linked-firms-report-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/chinese-banks-pouring-billions-into-deforestation-linked-firms-report-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jun 2021 12:26:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/06/09121251/GW3-768x450.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=243452</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, China, Indonesia, and Malaysia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Banking, Business, Deforestation, Environment, Finance, Forests, Palm Oil, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Chinese banks and investors funneled billions of dollars into global agribusinesses driving deforestation in the past seven years, according to new analysis published by eco-watchdog Global Witness. The report, released June 7, revealed that between January 2013 and April 2020, Chinese financiers poured more than $22.5 billion into major companies producing and trading commodities linked [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Chinese banks and investors funneled billions of dollars into global agribusinesses driving deforestation in the past seven years, according to new analysis published by eco-watchdog Global Witness. The report, released June 7, revealed that between January 2013 and April 2020, Chinese financiers poured more than $22.5 billion into major companies producing and trading commodities linked to deforestation, such as palm oil, soy and beef. This makes China the sixth-largest funder of global deforestation in the period, behind major commodity producers Brazil, Malaysia, the U.S. and Indonesia, and non-producer Japan. China is one of the largest financiers of global deforestation. Image courtesy of Global Witness. The researchers’ analysis, based on public data from the international coalition Forests &amp; Finance, also showed that five of the biggest Chinese commercial banks, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Bank of China, were responsible for 45% of all funds provided by Chinese financiers to these sectors during this period. Five Chinese banks were responsible for 45% of financing linked to deforestation. Image courtesy of Global Witness. With the Chinese law regulating commercial banks set to undergo revisions this year, Global Witness and other campaigners are calling for policymakers to explicitly require commercial banks to ensure they are not financing businesses linked to environmental and social damage, whether locally or elsewhere. Last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to bring the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions to a peak before 2030, and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. While the country’s green finance&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/chinese-banks-pouring-billions-into-deforestation-linked-firms-report-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/chinese-banks-pouring-billions-into-deforestation-linked-firms-report-says/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-243452</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Organizations aim to block funds for East African oil pipeline</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/organizations-aim-to-block-funds-for-east-african-oil-pipeline/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/organizations-aim-to-block-funds-for-east-african-oil-pipeline/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Mar 2021 15:22:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/03/01151718/Gombe_Stream_NP_gegenseitiges_Lausen-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=240071</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Land rights and extractives]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Animals, Banking, Biodiversity, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Fossil Fuels, Green, Lakes, NGOs, Oil, Oil Spills, Poaching, Protected Areas, Water, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[National and international NGOs from around the world have asked more than two dozen banks not to finance a 1,445-kilometer (898-mile) pipeline to shuttle oil from fields in Uganda to a port on Tanzania’s coast. The groups contend that the project is already impinging on communities and exacerbating poverty in the region. Their representatives also [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[National and international NGOs from around the world have asked more than two dozen banks not to finance a 1,445-kilometer (898-mile) pipeline to shuttle oil from fields in Uganda to a port on Tanzania’s coast. The groups contend that the project is already impinging on communities and exacerbating poverty in the region. Their representatives also say that construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline, or EACOP, comes with risks to both the immediate environment through which it would run and to the global climate. “Banks have been made aware of the tremendous risks posed by this pipeline, and they have been made aware of the groundswell of opposition from communities and civil society locally and internationally,” Ryan Brightwell, a researcher and editor at the finance and sustainability NGO BankTrack, said in a statement. “Any bank that chooses to finance the EACOP in the face of this opposition will show itself to be among the most irresponsible in the industry.” A proposed route for the East African Crude Oil Pipeline from 2016. Image by Sputink via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). BankTrack detailed the human rights and environmental risks in a report published in November 2020. Now, construction on the project appears set to begin after recent talks between Ugandan government authorities and the French oil company Total, according to reporting from the Ugandan newspaper Daily Monitor. Total is working with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) on the EACOP project. The cost of the construction is expected to be&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/organizations-aim-to-block-funds-for-east-african-oil-pipeline/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/organizations-aim-to-block-funds-for-east-african-oil-pipeline/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-240071</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Seven financial firms key to rooting out deforestation, report finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/seven-financial-firms-key-to-rooting-out-deforestation-report-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/seven-financial-firms-key-to-rooting-out-deforestation-report-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jan 2021 14:15:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/01/29062148/colombia_5794-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=239088</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Commodities]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Banking, Biodiversity, Carbon Emissions, Cattle, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Finance, Forest Carbon, Forestry, Forests, Global Warming, Green, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Mitigation, NGOs, Oceans, Palm Oil, Pasture, Pulp And Paper, Rainforests, Ranching, Saving Rainforests, Solutions, Soy, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, have swept through the financial world, building to a collective worth of $6.7 trillion by the second half of 2020. An ETF is a sort of hybrid between a single-company stock that’s easy to trade, and a low-cost, diversified mutual fund that spreads an investor’s risk among a selection of different [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, have swept through the financial world, building to a collective worth of $6.7 trillion by the second half of 2020. An ETF is a sort of hybrid between a single-company stock that’s easy to trade, and a low-cost, diversified mutual fund that spreads an investor’s risk among a selection of different companies. But this Goldilocks solution, feverishly attractive to individual and institutional investors alike, entails feasting on a measure of tainted porridge, according to a recent report by the London-based nonprofit financial think tank Planet Tracker. Investing in these funds translates to support for deforestation and other environmental damage coming from a broad swath of society, the authors write. The analysis found that 70% of the ETF market is in the grasp of three U.S. financial firms. And just four companies hold the reins to 60% of the related market for index funds, which track major market indicators such as the S&amp;P 500 in New York or the FTSE in London. Many ETFs are pegged these indexes. That level of influence means that these companies have an outsize opportunity to end financial support for companies that clear forest — if they choose to do so, said John Willis, the report’s lead author. Land recently cleared to make way for oil palm in Indonesia. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. Index funds, and especially ETFs, have surged in popularity in recent decades. Total investment in these products in 2020 was more than five times what it was in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/seven-financial-firms-key-to-rooting-out-deforestation-report-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/seven-financial-firms-key-to-rooting-out-deforestation-report-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-239088</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazil beef giants linked to illegal Amazon deforestation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/brazil-beef-giants-linked-to-illegal-amazon-deforestation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/brazil-beef-giants-linked-to-illegal-amazon-deforestation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Dec 2020 14:55:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Daniel]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/11/04112458/1-ca-768x479.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=237809</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Commodities]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Banking, Beef, Cattle, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Green, Logging, Pasture, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Ranching, Threats To Rainforests, Trade, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Brazil’s biggest beef companies have been directly linked to more than 17,000 hectares (42,000 acres) of illegal deforestation in the Amazon state of Pará. According to a recent investigation by NGO Global Witness, JBS, Marfrig and Minerva bought cattle from a combined total of 379 ranches between 2017 and 2019 where illegal deforestation had taken [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Brazil’s biggest beef companies have been directly linked to more than 17,000 hectares (42,000 acres) of illegal deforestation in the Amazon state of Pará. According to a recent investigation by NGO Global Witness, JBS, Marfrig and Minerva bought cattle from a combined total of 379 ranches between 2017 and 2019 where illegal deforestation had taken place. Global Witness said the deforestation contravened the beef companies’ zero-deforestation pledges and agreements with federal prosecutors in Brazil. Ranchers accused by the authorities of land-grabbing as well as rights abuses against indigenous peoples and activists were still able to sell their product to the firms, the group said. The firms also failed to monitor 4,000 ranches in their supply chains that were connected to large areas of deforestation in the state, investigators found.  “Our investigation clearly demonstrates that relying on an unregulated private sector with voluntary no-deforestation policies has failed to tackle forest destruction and related human rights abuses. This could contribute to the permanent loss of the Amazon rainforest,” Chris Moye, senior Amazon forests investigator at Global Witness, said in a statement. Brazil has the second-largest cattle herd in the world, which is the leading driver of deforestation emissions in Latin America. In 2009, JBS, Minerva and Marfrig pledged not to buy cattle from ranches linked to deforestation, or ones that overlapped with indigenous lands or were accused of land grabbing, from that year onwards. The locations of the ranches in Pará linked to illegal deforestation which JBS, Marfrig and Minerva purchased from&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/brazil-beef-giants-linked-to-illegal-amazon-deforestation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/brazil-beef-giants-linked-to-illegal-amazon-deforestation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-237809</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazilian and international banks financing global deforestation: Reports</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/brazilian-and-international-banks-financing-global-deforestation-reports/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/brazilian-and-international-banks-financing-global-deforestation-reports/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Nov 2020 13:52:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Diego RebouçasSue BranfordThais Borges]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/11/05131549/8-BANNER-Image-7-768x449.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=236571</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Illegal Deforestation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Banking, Beef, Cattle, Controversial, Crime, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Economics, Environment, Finance, Food Industry, Forest Destruction, Forests, Governance, Green, International Trade, Logging, Monitoring, Palm Oil, Pulp And Paper, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Ranching, Rubber, Soy, Supply Chain, Timber, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Some of the world’s biggest banks have invested US$153.2 billion in forest-risk companies in Brazil, Southeast Asia, and Central and West Africa since the Paris Climate Agreement was signed in 2016.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The headquarters of BNDES, Brazil’s National Social and Economic Development Bank which provided US$3.8 billion to forest-risk companies from 2016-2020, according to a recent report. Image courtesy of BNDES. “Environmentalist psychosis”: Those are the words used by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in June 2019 to describe the world’s growing concern over his nation’s escalating devastation of the Amazon rainforest. He coined the derisive phrase during the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, as he celebrated the clinching of the US$19 trillion trade agreement — the world’s biggest ever — between Mercosur, the South American trade bloc and the European Union. Not perhaps the most diplomatic of pronouncements, given the parties involved. Sixteen months later, far from being signed, the Mercosur-EU agreement has turned sour. A key reason: Europeans’ deep concern over rapidly escalating Amazon deforestation, which they fear threatens the survival of industrial civilization. With Amazon forest clearance rampant, and fires at their highest level on record, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are in no mood to be associated with one of the world’s leading environmental despoilers. France and other EU nations have signalled their willingness to scuttle the trade deal, rejecting ratification for now. Public declarations from international institutional investors, and expressions of mounting concern from Brazilian business groups, as well as past finance ministers and Central Bank presidents are all adding to the outrage over Amazon destruction. But, all this criticism is apparently falling on deaf ears in Brasilia. However, amid all the finger pointing at Bolsonaro, one&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/brazilian-and-international-banks-financing-global-deforestation-reports/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-236571</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>$154b in capital has gone to 300 forest-risk companies since the Paris Agreement</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/154b-in-capital-has-gone-to-300-forest-risk-companies-since-the-paris-agreement/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/154b-in-capital-has-gone-to-300-forest-risk-companies-since-the-paris-agreement/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2020 11:43:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Ashoka]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/09/03113637/GP0STURQI_AmazonFiresAug20_PressMedia-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=234561</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Congo Basin, Global, Southeast Asia, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Banking, Business, Climate Change, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Finance, Forest Destruction, Forests, Green, Palm Oil, Rainforests, Research, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Since the Paris climate agreement was signed in 2016, 300 companies at risk for contributing to deforestation have received at least $153.9 billion in financing, according to a new analysis by Forests and Finance. By trawling through publicly available bank records, corporate disclosure sheets, filings, and media records, researchers from the group were able to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Since the Paris climate agreement was signed in 2016, 300 companies at risk for contributing to deforestation have received at least $153.9 billion in financing, according to a new analysis by Forests and Finance. By trawling through publicly available bank records, corporate disclosure sheets, filings, and media records, researchers from the group were able to track more than 50,000 financial deals from across the world, publishing the results of their investigation in a searchable database this week. The 300 companies that were analyzed received capital in the form of loans or investments and were involved in the production of pulp and paper, beef, palm oil, soy, rubber, or timber. “We’re not directly accusing any of these companies of deforestation,” said Merel van der Mark, coordinator of the Forests and Finance Coalition, a joint project between six research and environmental advocacy groups. “We’re just saying they’re deforestation-risk companies because historically companies operating in these sectors have been linked to deforestation.” The Forests and Finance database has existed since 2016, but this is the first year that it was expanded to include companies operating in Brazil or Central and West Africa. Previously it only gathered data on those working in Southeast Asia. According to the new data, since 2016 banks and other investors have pumped $95.2 billion into forest-risk companies in Brazil, $54.2 billion to those in Southeast Asia, and $4.5 billion to those in Central and West Africa. In the years since the Paris Agreement was signed, those companies have benefited&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/154b-in-capital-has-gone-to-300-forest-risk-companies-since-the-paris-agreement/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/154b-in-capital-has-gone-to-300-forest-risk-companies-since-the-paris-agreement/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-234561</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Is Malaysia’s CIMB serious about addressing deforestation? (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/is-malaysias-cimb-serious-about-addressing-deforestation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/is-malaysias-cimb-serious-about-addressing-deforestation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Aug 2020 11:51:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gulzhan Musaeva]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/08/19113901/satellite-riau-plantation-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=233970</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Banking, Certification, Commentary, Corporate Social Responsibility, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Fires, Forests, Green, Land Use Change, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Note: CIMB has issued a response to this piece. It’s that time of the year: Indonesia is burning once again. Miles and miles of primeval forest are being lost to illegal fires amplifying the catastrophic loss of biodiversity and resulting in colossal carbon emissions. Most of the land is deforested to make way for that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Note: CIMB has issued a response to this piece. It’s that time of the year: Indonesia is burning once again. Miles and miles of primeval forest are being lost to illegal fires amplifying the catastrophic loss of biodiversity and resulting in colossal carbon emissions. Most of the land is deforested to make way for that one ubiquitous commodity — palm oil; also involved are rubber, timber, pulp &amp; paper sectors. Companies responsible for illegal clearing have been linked to dozens of listed corporations, repeat offenders, across Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Increasingly, financial institutions are being brought into the spotlight for their role in financing deforestation. Malaysian banks, despite being the largest financiers of palm oil and other forest-risk sector businesses in the region, are the worst performers on environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk assessment and mitigation. Loans &amp; Underwriting by Country of Origin (2014-August 2019). Source: forestsandfinance.org CIMB Group though is starting to stand out in view of the recent uptick in sustainability initiatives. However, its vision remains deliberately narrow, for it disregards the breadth of issues stemming from forest risk sectors (which, aside from deforestation and its climate effects, include peat development, land rights violations, labor abuses and corruption). As a major lender to forest-risk companies in Malaysia and Indonesia (through its IDX-listed subsidiary PT Bank CIMB Niaga), CIMB doled out more than USD4 billion in forest-risk credit between 2014 and 2019 (August), 88% of it to the palm oil sector. (This number is anything but a very&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/is-malaysias-cimb-serious-about-addressing-deforestation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/is-malaysias-cimb-serious-about-addressing-deforestation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-233970</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Business risk and COVID-19 are pushing Asian financiers away from coal</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/business-risk-and-covid-19-are-pushing-asian-financiers-away-from-coal/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/business-risk-and-covid-19-are-pushing-asian-financiers-away-from-coal/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2020 03:02:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nithin Coca]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/03/01220140/Coal-barge-on-the-Mahakam-768x432.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=233310</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[China, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Banking, Climate Change, Coal, COVID-19, Economics, Energy, Environment, and Fossil Fuels]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The use of coal as an energy source is steadily declining in the U.S. and Europe, but coal mining and the construction of coal-fired power plants continues across South and Southeast Asia. The technology and funding comes primarily from three countries — South Korea, Japan, and China — and is destined to nations including Indonesia, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The use of coal as an energy source is steadily declining in the U.S. and Europe, but coal mining and the construction of coal-fired power plants continues across South and Southeast Asia. The technology and funding comes primarily from three countries — South Korea, Japan, and China — and is destined to nations including Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh and the Philippines. Each of the latter has more than 10,000 megawatts (MW) of coal-fired power plants in various stages of development. But there are signs this trend might finally be changing. In the past few months, perhaps spurred by economic concerns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan&#8217;s three main private coal financing banks — Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Mizuho Financial Group (Mizuho) and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMBC) — have announced plans to gradually reduce coal investments. This was followed, in July, by Japan’s government announcing it would tighten public financing criteria for coal plants overseas, impacting state-funded entities such as the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. And, in April, after a historic victory in mid-term legislative elections, South Korea’s ruling Democratic party released a policy proposal for a “Green New Deal” that, at the time, included provisions to eliminate most coal financing. This intention was reinforced July 28 when Democratic party lawmakers proposed a package of bills aimed at banning the public financing of overseas coal projects. “It&#8217;s very significant because those Japanese banks have historically been amongst the biggest financing of coal fired power in Southeast Asia,” said Simon&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/business-risk-and-covid-19-are-pushing-asian-financiers-away-from-coal/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-233310</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>World Bank-funded factory farms dogged by alleged environmental abuses</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/world-bank-funded-factory-farms-dogged-by-alleged-environmental-abuses/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/world-bank-funded-factory-farms-dogged-by-alleged-environmental-abuses/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jul 2020 21:10:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/07/16141629/Hog_confinement_barn_interior-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=232546</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Commodities, Investigation, and Land rights and extractives]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Air Pollution, Animal Welfare, Banking, Community Development, Conservation, Culture, Development, Economics, Environment, Farming, Finance, Food Industry, Forests, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Industrial Agriculture, Land Rights, Pollution, Rivers, Sustainable Development, Traditional People, Tropics, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A pork and chicken producer has expanded its operations in northern Ecuador with the help of funding from the World Bank&#8217;s commercial lending arm, despite sustained complaints from local communities about air and water quality, public health and labor issues. The financing, through the World Bank Group&#8217;s International Finance Corporation (IFC), is intended, in part, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A pork and chicken producer has expanded its operations in northern Ecuador with the help of funding from the World Bank&#8217;s commercial lending arm, despite sustained complaints from local communities about air and water quality, public health and labor issues. The financing, through the World Bank Group&#8217;s International Finance Corporation (IFC), is intended, in part, to kick-start the economies of developing nations. But the funds, given to Quito-based Pronaca between 2004 and 2013 totaling $120 million, haven&#8217;t benefited the country&#8217;s poorest citizens, critics say. &#8220;In Ecuador, the benefits are only for the big companies, not for the people,&#8221; Xavier León of the NGO Acción Ecológica told Mongabay. Globally, the IFC has provided financing of more than $1.8 billion to livestock producers since 2010, according to IFC data aggregated during an investigation by Mongabay and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Pronaca — short for Procesadora Nacional de Alimentos — is Ecuador&#8217;s largest industrial livestock company. The province of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, west of the capital Quito, sits at the base of the Andes Mountains, and it&#8217;s been promoted as an ideal location to build out Ecuador&#8217;s food production industry, both to feed a growing nation and boost private sector profits. Pronaca has built more than 30 pork and poultry farms in the province since the 1990s. Each one houses thousands of pigs or millions of birds. Local community members say, however, that the burgeoning industry with Pronaca leading the way has come at the cost of their health, livelihoods&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/world-bank-funded-factory-farms-dogged-by-alleged-environmental-abuses/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-232546</doi>				</item>
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