Climate Advocacy Groups Call Citi Involvement in Exxon-Pioneer Merger 'Pure Hypocrisy'

NEW YORK — Climate advocacy groups have slammed Citi and other major US banks over their involvement in today’s Exxon-Pioneer merger as ’hypocrisy’ given the banks' commitments about supporting a transition to net zero.

Citi is lead financial advisor for Exxon in the $59.5 billion deal which will see Exxon double down on oil production by buying Pioneer Natural Resources, a shale oil production company in the US Permian basin. Exxon has been Citi’s biggest fossil fuel client and Citi has been one of Exxon's top bankers in recent years, with the bank pumping in over $15 billion to Exxon between 2016-2022.

At the same time, Citi has publicly committed to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and is currently one of only two major US banks (along with Wells Fargo) that has adopted a strong target to reduce its financed emissions for the oil and gas sector on an absolute basis, rather than based on a weaker emissions intensity basis like some of its peers. By helping its largest fossil fuel client massively grow its oil production business, Citi directly undermining these targets and its leadership. 

The bank has also faced criticism from investors and civil society for being the world's second largest funder of fossil fuels, including being the #2 funder of the top fossil fuel expansion companies in the years since the Paris Agreement, and the impacts of its financing on Indigenous communities. In August it was among 10 banks cited in a United Nations complaint over human rights abuses linked to funding for Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil producer.

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America, which all acted as financial advisors to Pioneer on the merger, have also each committed to achieve net zero by 2050 and are signatories to the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). Citi is also a founding member of NZBA.

QUOTES FROM CLIMATE ADVOCACY GROUPS

“It is pure hypocrisy to say you want to reduce emissions from oil and gas and then act as financial adviser to Exxon to grow its oil and gas business. The left hand is doing one thing while the right is doing the opposite. Citi is clearly not taking its climate targets very seriously,” said Ben Cushing, Campaign Director of the Sierra Club's Fossil-Free Finance campaign.

“Today we see the true side of Citi as a fossil fuel funder, not a climate leader. Citi is a bank that likes to talk about helping communities and solving climate change. But this deal will mean even more oil production where my children and I live and even more health problems for families in the Gulf South. Citi has backed this deal and is yet again funding environmentally racist policies,” said Roishetta Ozane, Gulf Fossil Finance Coordinator for Texas Campaign for the Environment.

“This is a massive deal risking more oil production and pollution - and Citi is right in the middle of it. Citibank is failing everyone: its share price has tanked for years, its staff are disillusioned through arbitrary layoffs, and it is still under investigation for compliance. Meanwhile, Citi continues to bankroll fossil fuels while publicly touting climate commitments. Actions speak louder than words, and today we got a megaphone message: Citi is doubling down on fossil fuels at the expense of our health and safety," said Hannah Saggau, Senior Climate Finance Campaigner at Stand.earth.

"This is why it's important to follow the money instead of greenwashed pledges. Bank of America talks about climate transition, but today it's revealed they're in the thick of one of the biggest oil production in years. Bank of America is profiting off of climate chaos, and must be held accountable for torching the planet as much as Exxon," said Shawna Ambrose of Rainforest Action Network.

“Last month protesters shut down Citi’s headquarters in New York because we are tired of greenwashing from this megabank. Today Citi proved they would rather help Exxon keep profiting off fossil fuels rather than stand with communities in New York and elsewhere suffering from the ravages of climate change. Our message to Citi is that we will escalate our fight in defense of our communities and the planet," said Alice Hu of New York Communities for Change.