Banks are still financing fossil fuels - while signing up to net zero pledges | Mariana Mazzucato

The financial sector is helping to drive the climate crisis. Radical government action is needed to overhaul the system

Despite the stark warnings of climate breakdown from the IPCC and the UN, it's business as usual for fossil fuel capitalism. An astonishing 56% of the G20 nations' Covid-19 recovery funds for energy have gone to fossil fuel companies.

In April, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) chaired by Mark Carney was launched to bring together leading financial corporations to redirect finance towards achieving net zero by 2050. Yet many of its signatories remain among the world's top backers of fossil fuels. Some have even issued new financing to companies expanding fossil fuel infrastructure since signing up with the GFANZ.

Mariana Mazzucato is professor in the economics of innovation and public value at University College London, and the founding director of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP). Her latest book is Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism; Matthew Thompson is Research Fellow in Rethinking Public Value at IIPP.