Financial services companies that once committed to reaching net-zero investment levels are still investing $8.5 billion (€8.47 billion) in companies linked to deforestation, a new study reveals.

At last year’s climate summit in Glasgow, there was much enthusiastic rhetoric regarding the GFANZ (the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero). Founded a few months prior, the organisation pledged to ensure that hundreds of financial institutions would become carbon neutral by 2050.

However, at the COP27 conference, Global Witness revealed that financial asset companies have not stopped investing in businesses associated with deforestation.