Contribution short abstract

Within finance and banking, fossil fuel investments are incentivized and climate obstruction narratives are dominant. This paper reviews climate obstruction narratives in banks and financial institutions and explores how finance obstructs fossil fuel phaseout.

Contribution long abstract

Transformative changes for climate justice requires phasing out fossil fuels. But fossil fuel phaseout has been constrained by pervasive climate obstruction in finance and banking. Climate obstruction refers to intentional efforts to deny the severity of the climate crisis and to slow or to block policies or actions that would reduce the severity of climate instability. This paper argues that climate obstruction and the blocking of fossil fuel phaseout are manifested through simplistic narratives and narrow framings that permeate the financial sector. A critical element of this is the attempt to minimize and downplay the threat of economic and financial instability associated with climate disruptions. A typology of dominant narratives that prevent and delay financial innovations for climate justice is proposed. Revealing climate obstruction within the financial sector and banking is an important step in the paradigm shift that is required to phaseout fossil fuels and transform the economy toward climate justice.