ROYAL BANK OF CANADA

Nominated by Rainforest Action Network (USA)
Headquarters: Toronto and Quebec, Canada
Sector: Financial services
Turnover/Profit: US $22 billion (2008) / US $4.6 billion
Owned by: Listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges
Employees: 80,000
CEO: Gordon M. Nixon

In Brief

The world’s filthiest ATM: Like no other financial institution, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) facilitates the extraction of oil from tar sands in the province of Alberta. The dirtiest oil in the world  is currently being squeezed out of soil from an area larger than Switzerland and Austria combined. Oil extraction from tar sands generates three times the CO₂ emissions as conventionally-extracted oil. The amount of water pumped from the Athabasca River for extraction is enough to supply a city of one million residents. Afterwards, because of its toxicity, the water must be stored in a specially-built storage reservoir – the world’s largest. Toxic substances nonetheless show up in the environment: Deformities appear in wild animals. Rarely seen forms of cancer occur more often in the indigenous peoples of the region. Furthermore, the oil firms fly in cheap labor from developing countries. These workers seldom leave the extraction area until they are shipped back home. RBC finances this violation against man and nature, in the last two years with investments totaling US $20 billion. And that is just the beginning of their plans.