The bank also committed to extending its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 to its lending services, rather than just its operations by 2025, as well as reducing emissions by 70 per cent and sourcing all of its electricity from renewable and non-emitting sources by 2025. RBC also said it will disclose financed emissions “for key sectors” starting in 2022. (The Logic)

Talking point: The bank said it already met its earlier target of mobilizing $100 billion in sustainable finance by 2025. Despite the progress, RBC is still among one of the largest coal-industry backers in the world. It topped the list of Canadian funders and ranked 12th globally, having lent US$5.2 billion to the sector between October 2018 and October 2020, according to an analysis published Thursday by German non-profit Urgewald. The robust new targets follow pressure from BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, for firms to set net-zero goals and better climate risk-disclosure practices. Meanwhile, the trend toward ESG investing and lending may complicate growing interest in special-purpose acquisition companies, with ESG-focused investors reluctant to back the blank-cheque firms without knowing whether the resulting deal will align with their environmental, social and governance commitments.