RBC faces pressure on fossil fuels, Indigenous rights as shareholders meet

One of Canada’s biggest banks is under mounting pressure to divest from fossil fuels and other projects that activists say violate Indigenous rights. 

Protests took place outside Royal Bank of Canada branches across the country on Saturday, April 6, to mark what organizers call Fossil Fools Day. 

RBC is a major worldwide financier of fossil fuel projects, and the demonstrations come ahead the bank’s annual shareholders meeting on Thursday, April 11, in Etobicoke, Ont. 

In Moncton, a demonstration took place despite rainy weather outside the RBC branch on Mountain Road. 

About two dozen people rallied on the sidewalk by the busy arterial road. Protesters expressed grave concern about the rapid pace of climate change. 

“RBC and all the other banks and our government officials need to take this seriously,” said Carol Scott, a member of the local organizing committee.

RBC didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.

Military investments  

Protesters in Moncton also blasted RBC for its investments with military-industrial companies, notably Palantir Technologies.

The Denver-based company provides artificial intelligence for military purposes to countries including Israel, at a time when the country stands accused of genocide for its war in Gaza.

Palantir, co-founded by billionaires Peter Thiel and Alex Karp, recently announced a strategic partnership with the Israeli Defense Ministry “to help the country’s war effort.” 

By the end of last year, RBC’s investments in Palantir were valued at about $34.9 million USD, according to the Fintel financial data platform. 

In Moncton, protesters delivered a letter to RBC staff demanding that the bank divest from fossil fuels and “all projects using force against Indigenous people.”

Top fossil fuel offender: report

RBC Financial Group, the largest bank in Canada as measured by assets, was also the world’s top financier of fossil fuels developments in 2022. 

That’s according to a report titled Banking on Climate Chaos. The study was published last year by a coalition of environmental groups.

The report states that RBC provided $41 billion to the industry in 2022, an increase of four per cent over the previous year. In particular, RBC was among the leading financiers of tar sands projects and fracking.

Since 2016, RBC has provided a total of $252.5 billion to the fossil fuel industry, making it one of the worst offenders since the Paris Agreement came into effect, the report states.

‘Greenwashing’ allegations

The bank’s public relations materials state that it’s committed to a goal of “net-zero emissions in our lending by 2050.” The bank has cited efforts to “mobilize climate action” such as working with “energy sector clients on their plans for the energy transition.” 

RBC also recently launched its so-called Climate Action Institute, “to provide research and advance ideas that contribute to Canada’s climate progress.”

But critics have accused RBC of greenwashing its reputation, prompting an investigation by the Competition Bureau of Canada in 2022. 

RBC has denied those allegations. Its latest annual report notes allegations of greenwashing as a risk.

“We continue to monitor trends in climate-related litigation and regulatory enforcement actions, including those involving claims of ‘greenwashing,'” the report says.

In an email, a spokesperson for the Competition Bureau confirmed that the investigation is ongoing and said “there is no conclusion of wrongdoing at this time.” The spokesperson declined to provide further details, citing confidentiality.

“However, the Bureau takes deceptive environmental claims seriously,” the statement added. “Should we find evidence of conduct contrary to the law, we will take appropriate action.”

Coastal GasLink

Activists in Moncton criticized RBC for its role as a financier of the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

Currently in its final stages of construction, the 670-kilometer pipeline will transport fracked shale gas across northern B.C. to a liquefaction and export facility on the Pacific coast.

Along the route of the pipeline, 20 elected First Nations have signed agreements with the B.C. provincial government and TC Energy, the Alberta-based company behind the project.

But critics say those deals were meant to bypass Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs who oppose the pipeline, violating the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.

In 1997, in the landmark Delgamuukw vs. British Columbia case, the Supreme Court acknowledged Wet’suwet’en title over the land. 

Wet’suwet’en land defenders have resisted pipeline expansion in their territory for years. 

When heavily-armed police enforced a court injunction against the land defenders in February 2020, railway blockades and other solidarity actions sprang up across the country.  

The pipeline issue spilled into the bank’s annual shareholder meeting last year in Saskatoon, when Indigenous leaders and climate activists were turned away from the meeting room.

The delegation watched the proceedings via livestream and asked questions remotely from a secondary room, Canada’s National Observer reported at the time.

David Gordon Koch is a journalist with the NB Media Co-op. This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Stations and Users (CACTUS).