The European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs plans abandon the one-for-one rule in a vote held on 24 January, but 16 organisations have warned Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) against it. In an open letter, the organisations, which include Finance Watch and the Climate Safe Lending Network, argue the scraping of the rule is evidence of MEPs “caving to pressure from the banking lobby and jeopardising financial stability”. The one-for-one rule would mean that for each euro that finances new fossil fuels, banks should have a euro of their own funds held liable for potential losses. The letter’s signatories say this rule would “help protect citizens and taxpayers from a climate-driven financial crisis”. Benoît Lallemand, Secretary General of Finance Watch, which coordinated the letter, said: “Citizens should not pay the price when a bank’s decision to make new fossil fuel investments goes wrong. MEPs must not bend to pressure from the financial lobby and join the ranks of climate-risk deniers.”
📨In a joint letter signed by 16 organisations, @forfinancewatch & partners urged 🇪🇺@EP_Economics to take credible action to tackle climate risk and to fully implement the #Basel3 provisions in the #CRR & #CRD reviews #OneforOne 👉 https://t.co/Vn9vDhYr19 pic.twitter.com/vADG1FiTlP
— Finance Watch (@forfinancewatch) January 18, 2023
