Al Gore calls out the bankers ‘profiting hugely’ from Big Oil

Oil analysts are already suggesting that this week’s departure of BP CEO Bernard Looney, who had stood out among peers for his efforts to push the company toward a greener strategy, will be welcomed by BP investors.

Just as it’s “a bit unrealistic to expect fossil fuel companies to solve this crisis for us when they’re incentivized to do otherwise,” the business case for banks is the same, said Mr Gore.

Al Gore, the former US vice president turned climate activist, says Big Oil and the banks backing it still have huge financial incentives to stick with fossil fuels, even though their decision to do so is the leading cause of the climate crisis.

Bankers “are profiting hugely” from their role as lenders and advisers to fossil fuel companies, Mr Gore said in an interview ahead of Climate Week, the annual gathering in New York of business and government leaders that occurs in conjunction with the UN General Assembly.