Ireland among top countries enabling investment in fossil fuels
The analysis found the largely Dublin-based operations held more than €31bn in oil, gas and other fossil-fuel investments last year.
More than 90pc of those investments were in companies that are continuing or expanding oil and gas exploration.
That is despite global pledges by governments to dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions, for which fossil fuels are the primary source. The research was carried out for Trócaire and ActionAid Ireland, which are calling on the Government to stop private finance flowing through Ireland to fossil-fuel companies.
Ireland enacted the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act in 2018 which pulled public money out of fossil fuels by prohibiting the state-owned Strategic Investment Fund from buying shares in them.
However, the rules do not apply to private companies that either invest directly in fossil fuels or act on behalf of investors.
Trócaire and ActionAid will meet politicians in Leinster House today to present their report and ask for amendments to the law.
'The findings in this report are shocking,' ActionAid Ireland chief executive Karol Balfe said.
'Ireland may not have a domestic fossil fuel industry, but it is clear we are deeply complicit in fuelling the global climate emergency, providing a tax-friendly financial gateway for some of the most destructive industries on the planet.'
The report found that Ireland ranked 14th in the world in terms of managing international fossil-fuel investments. That puts Ireland ahead of much larger countries such as Russia, Kuwait and Brazil, which are major fossil-fuel producers.
It calculated that the investments that flowed through Ireland in 2023 fuelled 72.5 million tonnes (mt) of carbon emissions – 10.5mt more than Ireland's total national emissions for the year.
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Ms Balfe said none of this activity could be justified in countries that had signed up to the landmark Paris Agreement on cutting global emissions.
'There is no credible path to climate safety if financial flows to fossil fuels, including those channelled through Ireland, are not shut down,' she said.
'This means direct regulation of financial institutions, requiring them to adopt and implement transition plans aligned with the Paris Agreement.'
Siobhán Curran, of Trócaire, said the aid agency was seeing first-hand the impacts of the continued support of the fossil-fuel industry in countries suffering severe droughts, floods, population displacement and other deadly effects of climate change.
The Irish-based operations identified as holding the biggest investments in fossil fuels include BlackRock and State Street, both US-owned; Credit Agricole (France); Marsh McLennan (US); Intesa Sanpaolo (Italy); Banco Mediolanum (Italy); Power Corporation of Canada; Neuberger Berman (US); FinecoBank (Italy); and Zurich Insurance (Switzerland).
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