A report released by non-governmental groups at the climate
talks in Durban, South Africa, said that major global banks bear
responsibility for global warming by funding utilities and
mining companies to build coal-fired power plants Major global
banks are exacerbating the fight against global warming by
supplying power utilities and mining firms with ample funds to
build coal-fired plants, according to a report released by non-
governmental groups at the climate talks in Durban. The study
examined the portfolios of 93 major banks and found that coal
financing supplied by those institutions to the coal industry
totaled 232 billion euros ($309.4 billion) since 2005 when the
Kyoto Protocol came into force. "If banks provide money for
these projects, they will wreck all attempts to limit global
warming to 2 degrees Celsius," said Heffa Schuecking of
environmental think tank urgewald who worked on the report. The
Kyoto pact was set up to reduce greenhouse gases emitted by
developed countries by an average of 5.2 p