Your bank falls short in climate responsibility.
Bank of Hope is an American bank that primarily serves the Korean-American community. The bank was established in 1980 and is based in Los Angeles, California.
The bank is not transparent about its lending practices, apart from disclosing that it provides commercial real estate loans to gas stations. Its idea of environmental responsibility is by "encouraging shredding and providing recycling bins for paper" in its offices.
The bank should put in place a clear policy that it will not lend to fossil fuel companies, measure and disclose its greenhouse gas emissions and start offering "green" products.
Financial institutions in this category have shown a weak commitment to environmental sustainability and transparency.
If they engage in energy financing, they are likely to lend far more to fossil fuels than renewable sources. They may have limited or no effective policies to improve their climate impact and may lack meaningful targets for reducing the emissions they are responsible for.
While they might show some engagement in sustainable practices or offer certain green lending products, these efforts are insufficiently developed or prominently displayed to make a significant impact.
The Paris Agreement set the goal to stay under 1.5°C of warming for very good reasons. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an increase of just a couple of degrees more could lead to "substantial species extinction, large risks to global and regional food security", and an inability to work outside — or even live — in some areas of the world. Our world will become unrecognizable as ocean dead zones, floods, and extreme weather fuel social and economic disruption.
Banks live and die on their reputations. Mass movements of money to fossil-free competitors puts those reputations at grave risk. By moving your money to a sustainable financial institution, you will:
Send a message to your bank that it must defund fossil fuels
Join a fast-growing movement of consumers standing up for their future
Take a critical climate action with profound effects