Deforestation Risks from Financed Activities | Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility

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<h4>Resolution Details</h4>
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<strong>Company:</strong>
<p>Bank of America Corp.</p>
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<strong>Year:</strong>
<p>2026 </p>
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<strong>Issue Area:</strong>
<p>Climate Change, Environment </p>
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<strong>Focus Area:</strong>
<p>Climate Financing, Commodities Sourcing/Deforestation, GHG Reduction and Targets </p>
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<strong>Status:</strong>
<p>Filed</p>
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<h2>Resolution Text</h2>
<p><strong>WHEREAS</strong>: Deforestation drives climate change and biodiversity loss, undermining ecosystem services upon which businesses depend. Land use change, principally deforestation, contributes 12–20% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,1 and scientists estimate that deforestation is responsible for the loss of 50,000 species every year.2 With the global economy projected to lose USD $23 trillion by 2050 to land degradation, desertification and drought,3 financial institutions jeopardize the stability of their returns by<br>financing activities linked to nature loss and climate change.<br><br>Bank of America (BAC) highlights these risks in its 2024 Sustainability Report, stating, “As forests are<br>depleted, we lose one of the world’s most important carbon sinks, which accelerates climate change and<br>compounds biodiversity loss.” BAC also acknowledges in its 2025 10-K that “climate change and related<br>environmental sustainability matters present short-, medium- and long-term risks.” Consequently, BAC<br>has committed to achieving net zero GHG emissions in its financing activities, operations, and supply<br>chain by 2050 and to deploying USD $1.5 trillion in sustainable finance by 2030.4<br><br>However, the proponent believes that the company cannot adequately address financial risk, nor meet its<br>net zero goal, through “sustainable finance” if it is continuing to finance deforestation that is beyond the<br>reach of its sustainable finance activities. And while BAC recognizes in its 2024 Sustainability Report the<br>importance of preventing deforestation, it discloses no standards, policies, or due diligence measures to<br>address deforestation-risk exposure. It has also removed its Environmental and Social Risk Policy<br>Framework and Forest Practices Policy from the public domain.<br><br>BAC lags competitors including Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Rabobank, Deutsche Bank and Standard<br>Chartered, among many others, which have largely adopted generally applicable financing expectations<br>including No Deforestation, No Peat, and No Exploitation (NDPE) commitments for palm oil; Forest<br>Stewardship Council (FSC) or similar certification for forestry clients; and policies addressing the<br>financing of beef and soy sector clients. In part due to such policy gaps, BAC received a 13 percent<br>overall score on Global Canopy’s Forest 500 benchmark of the deforestation policies of financial<br>institutions in 2024.5<br><br>Clear standards and disclosure of progress are key to demonstrating effective risk management. It is<br>firmly within the purview of BAC’s fiduciary responsibility, and in the company’s best interest, to<br>disclose and mitigate deforestation-related risks, especially as more financiers and investors recognize the<br>materiality of such risks and adjust their strategies accordingly.<br><br><strong>RESOLVED</strong>: Shareholders request that Bank of America issue a public report, within a year, outlining if and<br>how it could establish policies or practices to further mitigate deforestation risks from financed activities.</p>
<p><strong>Supporting Statement</strong>: Shareholders recommend the report disclose, at board and management<br>discretion, whether and how Bank of America’s net-zero plan will affect the financing of sectors<br>contributing to deforestation.</p>
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<p>1 https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/explainers/whats-redd-and-will-it-help-tackle-climate-change/<br>2 https://wjarr.com/sites/default/files/WJARR-2022-0749.pdf<br>3 https://www.unccd.int/news-stories/stories/business4land-mobilizing-private-sector-reverse-land-degradation<br>4 https://about.bankofamerica.com/content/dam/about/reportcenter/<br>esg/2024/Sustainability_at_Bank_of_America_2024_Report.pdf<br>5 https://forest500.org/financial-institutions/bank-of-america/?ayear=2024</p>

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<h3>Lead Filer</h3>
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<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”> Giovanna Eichner</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>Green Century Capital Management, Inc.</span></div>
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