Banks helping fund destruction of Amazon rainforest, environmental group claims

Institutions ‘complacent’ and not making best use of risk management policies, Stand.earth says. By Jon Sharman

The world’s largest tropical rainforest is at a tipping point, Stand.earth says (Getty)

Major banks’ investments in fossil fuel extraction are putting at risk the Amazon rainforest and the wider global climate, with the ecologically vital region now at a “tipping point”, according to a new report by activists.

Stand.earth accused the institutions of being complacent and failing to do all they could to protect the rainforest, despite having policies in place that purported to screen out risky ventures.

The Canadian pressure group analysed 14 top US and European banks for its report, released on Thursday.