In releasing the report, titled "The Approach of Banks in Turkey to Climate Change," 350 For Climate Association evaluated Turkey's 17 largest banks on five criteria related to climate change.
The evaluation criteria are as follows;
Fossil fuel assets/investments, Clean energy investments, Setting "Net Zero”, carbon footprint and "Carbon Neutral" goals, ESG (environmental, social and governance practices), and similar assessments.
Banks fail on climate
According to the report, eight banks in Turkey have announced that they will not finance coal, while the rest have made no such statement.
"This report on the climate practices of Turkey's 17 largest banks shows that the Turkish banking sector still has a long way to go to fully address climate change risks."
While about half of the banks have set targets to be "carbon neutral" and/or "net zero," there is no information on whether the remaining banks have set a date. Banks that have set goals do not have information on their near-term plans to support those long-term goals.
The report draws attention to the fact that "sustainability committees" established in almost all banks under different names continue to work diligently in this area, but the sustainability reports produced by these committees are not consistent and have been prepared according to different standards. At the same time, it is apparent that there is not enough data on how the reports published and/or the information provided are verified.
From Individuals to Banks: Do not Finance the Climate Crisis with Our Savings!
In recent months, 350 For Climate Association has launched a petition called "Smoke Free Money Field." Launched at change.org/dumansizparasahasi, the petition aims to remind people of the power of individual deposits with banks. It allows their customers to see the total funding power of their individual deposit accounts and ask their banks to take a step toward phasing out coal.
