MAINE MONITOR • April 2, 2023
An Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report last month confirmed. “There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all,” the United Nations scientific body stated. That shrinking window is down to about 27 seasons, what’s left of this decade. Every season that we delay, the prospects for our beleaguered planet dim. To reverse course on global warming, we need to correct what one IPCC report author calls “misaligned finance,” the bankrolling of fossil fuels instead of clean energy. Bank of America, Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo all finance fossil fuel expansion, having collectively invested more than a trillion dollars since 2016. The Canadian bank TD is also a major fossil fuel funder. In contrast, Europe’s largest bank, HSBC, announced late last year that it would no longer finance new oil and gas fields. Decisions made without an intergenerational perspective contributed to the climate crisis. Now there’s no avoiding the long view. ~ Marina Schauffler