Canada’s biggest bank said it was “retiring” its sustainable finance commitments in light of 2024 changes to the federal Competition Act. In 2021, RBC made headlines when it announced plans to administer $500 billion in green finance by 2025. (The Logic)
Talking point: RBC’s exit shines a spotlight on Ottawa’s anti-greenwashing rules, which received pushback from business groups claiming it would stifle their environmental reporting practices. Chief among their concerns is that corporations are subject to legal challenges if they make environmental claims that cannot be verified through an “adequate and proper test”—a stipulation they view as overly vague. RBC did not specify why it made the decision, but said that under new reporting requirements the bank “may not have appropriately measured certain … sustainable finance activities as presented on a cumulative basis.”