Luxembourg banks accused of greenwashing assets

Greenpeace conducted a study of the «green» assets offered to clients by investment banks in Luxembourg and concluded that the assets were not, in fact, environmentally friendly enough. There are now talks about intentional greenwashing of projects that do not really help the environment all that much.

The 19 Greenpeace auditors held 27 consulting meetings at 6 major banks in the Grand Duchy. And found out that none of their «green» financial instruments fully comply with the Paris Agreement.

Simply put, injecting money into these assets will lead to somewhat largt CO2 emissions. Investments into them will not keep the global temperature rise at the level of 1.5 degrees. On the contrary, they will make a serious contribution to its fast increase.

The Association of Banks and Bankers of Luxembourg has already responded to accusations of greenwashing assets. According to representatives of the association, Greenpeace takes too narrow a view of what assets can be called green. ABBL also reminds that banks are subject not only to the Paris Agreements, but also to complex rules of financial regulation. However, it promises that in the future, measures will be taken to correct the situation.

There are truly green assets in Luxembourg already, however. Imagine Impact Bonds helps eco friendly projects gain international funding.