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Canada’s competition bureau files a complaint on behalf of environment lawyers. They claim that RBC has misled the public about climate action

Canada’s competition bureau files a complaint on behalf of environment lawyers. They claim that RBC has misled the public about climate action

They asked the bureau for an investigation into RBC’s misleading advertisement about RBC’s company’s commitments towards climate action, while funding fossil fuel development.

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Canada’s Competition Bureau has received a complaint from environment lawyers alleging that the Royal Bank of Canada is misleading Canadians with its climate action, while still investing in fossil fuels.

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The Tuesday, February 12, 2009: The complaint was filedStand.earth and Ecojustice for six members of the public. Kukpi7 Judy Wilson is the chief of the Neskonlith Indian band east of Kamloops and secretary-treasurer of Union of BC Indian Chiefs.

Eve Saint, a daughter of a Wetsuweten chief and an outspoken opponent to B.C.s Coastal GasLink pipe, Toronto-based journalist Chloe Tse and Jennifer Roberge (volunteers at For Our Kids), and Richard Brooks (the finance director at Stand.earth.

They asked the bureau for an investigation into RBC’s misleading advertisement about RBC’s commitments towards climate action, while funding fossil fuel development.

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The complaint claims that RBC cannot claim it supports the principles and be committed to net-zero emission in its lending by 2050, when it ranks fifth among 60 largest banks for fossil fuel financing.

RBC has not yet replied to a request to comment on the complaint.

Wilson claimed that RBC is lying to the people by claiming they are taking climate action, but expanding their financing of climate-destructive fossilfuels.

Climate change has a significant impact on Indigenous peoples all over the globe, as well as here in Canada. Wilson said that RBC’s claim to be Paris Agreement-aligned should not be accepted unless it stops financing fossil fuels.

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RBC stated that it would provide sustainable financing for $500 billion by 2025. However the complaint alleges that these statements give the impression RBC is taking climate change seriously. It is also taking steps to reduce its emissions to meet the international goal of 1.5 C.

Canadian companies and financial institutions are making more net-zero pledges. They are a growing form greenwashing that the Competition Bureau should be worried about. Companies are making future climate action promises without any current actions or credible plans to achieve them, the complaint states.

Many activists, including a number of Hollywood movie stars have been calling on RBC to stop operating the Coastal GasLink natural gaz pipeline through northern B.C.

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Actor Mark Ruffalo, along with more than six hundred actors, musicians, and others in the entertainment business, signed an open letter asking RBC to stop funding the project. The bank claims that it violates the rights and freedoms of the Wetsuweten.

The pipeline has been opposed by Wetsuweten hereditary leaders for years. However, 20 First Nations band Councils along the pipeline route have endorsed the project.

Opponents of the pipeline set up blocks along forest service roads to prevent workers from getting through. They were confronted by police officers and court injunctions issued to TC Energy, its owner.

More to come

Files from The Canadian Press

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