British banks finance 805m tonnes of CO2 production a year

Emissions from projects and companies backed by the City are nearly double those of the UK

The amount of CO2 production financed by Britain's banks and asset managers is nearly double the UK's annual carbon emissions, according to a new report.

The study, published by environmental campaign groups Greenpeace and WWF, shows the City provided loans and investments for projects and companies that emitted 805m tonnes of CO2 in 2019. That is 1.8 times the UK's own annual net emissions for the same year, which totalled 455m tonnes when discounting aviation and shipping, sectors that the UK government also does not include in its emissions calculations.