Extensive financial research by NGOs Urgewald and Facing Finance has uncovered massive greenwashing in European ESG funds, also known as Article 8 and Article 9 funds. More than 14,000 ESG funds traded in European markets were analyzed. Well over one-third (4,792 funds) invested more than EUR 123 billion in companies actively pushing fossil fuel expansion projects or lacking a credible Paris-aligned coal phase-out plan.
Today, Urgewald and 10 NGO partners published the first Metallurgical Coal Exit List (MCEL), a public database of coal companies which are expanding their met coal mining activities. “Hundreds of financial institutions are already using our Global Coal Exit List (GCEL) to restrict their financial flows to the thermal coal sector. The MCEL is a new sister database that focuses exclusively on metallurgical coal and highlights which companies are planning new met coal mines or extensions. Financial institutions need to wake up and stop bankrolling the reckless expansion of this industry,” says Heffa Schuecking, Director of Urgewald.
Not one of the financial backers of the highly controversial Mozambique LNG project has agreed to publicly call for an independent international investigation into an alleged massacre of civilians, reportedly committed near TotalEnergies' premises in mid-2021 by Mozambican public security forces.
Today, EU foreign ministers approved new sanctions against Russia at their meeting in Brussels. These include the sanctioning of 52 ships that transport or have transported Russian oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) or looted Ukrainian grain.
Italian fossil fuel giant Eni has pressed charges against Antonio Tricarico of ReCommon in relation to statements he made on the RAI program Report on May 5th, 2024. He is now under investigation by the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office on charges of alleged defamation of the company in the press.
More than 70 associations, citizens' initiatives and companies from Germany, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, DR Congo, Ghana, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, UK, and the USA have signed an open letter to warn against Germany's misguided approach to CCS. The legislation is poised to be fast-tracked amid the current government crisis.